GQDN 8/20/2026
9 hours ago
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Is Blizzard Betting All In?
The announcement for the release date of the next expansion is less than two weeks away now by my estimation and we are still getting a slew of information day in and day out about things being added to Mists. It is beginning to seem, more and more with each announcement, that blizzard is going all in with Mists.
After trying to bluff with a bad hand that they named Cataclysm they are low on chips. Another bluff like that and they could very well go from being the table leader to walking home with their tail between their legs.
They announced Cataclysm saying it would be the biggest expansion with the most content ever. They said they would release new patches faster than ever before. They said a lot. They where bluffing, none of the things they said where true, not even one, and in the end everyone saw their hand. They had nothing. A pair of twos could have beaten the hand that Cataclysm was.
With Mists they have been dealt a new hand but the people sitting at the table can't just take their betting big once more as proof they have a good hand. They are going to need to wait it out to see it. They are going to have to let them play it out and see what they have.
From all this information it is hard to believe that Mists is just another bluff. They showed us what looked like a very advanced preview at the last convention and they kept it up by not only having a huge beta that was willing to invite anyone that bought an annual pass but adding many additional things to the beta that are functional but we where never even told about.
After having convention announcements for a dance studio and a path of the titans and seeing both cut before the finished product came out you have to look at this as a complete reversal for them, something we have never had the occasion to see before from them. They are adding content that was not announced. We are going to be getting more than they promised, not less. Is this all one huge bluff or are we getting ready to see blizzard whip out the royal flush?
I happen to be from the school that is hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I fell for their bluff last time. I had high expectations of Cataclysm. I was duped. I and millions of other people, some of them got up and left the table after being so insulted by the Cataclysm bluff, expected so much more the way they had played their hand. Once bitten, twice shy.
We won't get fooled again with that type of boasting about the best expansion ever but seeing blizzard going all in on this expansion has one wondering if they do actually mean it this time. Are we really going to get the biggest expansion ever now? Are we going to have more content than ever before? Will we have faster patches and more things to do? I know they did not say any of that about this expansion, they said it about the last one and I am still waiting for them to deliver on that. I am holding Mists accountable for the debt Cataclysm left behind from their unfulfilled promises.
Lets just take a look at some random numbers that are being thrown at us.
8 - New questing zones.
1 - New hub city for each the alliance and horde.
3 - New battlegrounds
1 - New arena.
10 - New or redesigned dungeons.
1 - New dungeon difficulty mode, challenge.
1 - New dungeon type called scenarios that can be done by any group make up.
10 - New scenarios.
3 - New raids
10 - Classes completely redesigned
30 - Specs completely redesigned
1 - New spec, guardian druid
1 - New class, monk
3 - New specs for monks
1 - New race, with dances, emotes and movements designed just for them
1 - New mini game, pet battles
10 - Different classes of pets
350 - Over 350 different abilities pets can have.
300 - Nearly 300 new pets
100 - Around 100 wild pets that can be captured
20 - Over 20 new factions to encounter
1 - New faction completely designed to be for lore only
6 - New cooking specializations
5 - New guild levels with redesigned bonuses
50 - Over 50 new mounts
550 - Over 550 new achievements
1200 - Over 1200 new quests
... so far.
All that and so much more.
An updated archeology that allows 6 digs per site and more pieces per dig, a wide variety of achievements for it and new collections, new races and new rares. The new farming thing and new cooking containers. The new creatures, new battles, new mechanics, new focus, new this and new that.
Many classes will find themselves with new resources like locks and arcane mages while other classes will find themselves with new ways to manage what they do like all tank specs and shamans with their totem change.
The changing and removal of things for hunters which is of course of special importance to me like the removal of minimum range and the change to needing expertise make for a new feel to how we do things for the second expansion in a row in our ever evolving class.
There will be so much to do game wise to begin with and everyone will need to relearn their class to some degree or another as most all abilities have changed, new abilities have been added, long known abilities have been removed and while it all remains the same there will be a fresh take on everything.
There are many new glyphs, most for fun and some that will be hard to decide on. Druids will be able to be the good old tree all the time now, they can be a stag travel form that can carry a passenger, they can be an orca when they swim, there is just so much to do. Hunters can even use a glyph to teach Fluffy to fetch now.
There are world bosses that turn all the mobs around them into elites and have raid like mechanics in an open world setting which could be great fun or amazing havoc, either can very well be an exciting thing.
The world Pandaria covers appears to be more than we have ever seen in one expansion and the scenery is not only visually exciting but seemingly well thought out. It is also all connected, something the world misses because of the disconnected questing areas in Cataclysm.
It seems like they have put so much into this expansion, for every bit they didn't do in Cataclysm they did it twice over in this one. They are betting the farm on it, they are pushing all in.
They are correcting a lot of the errors they made with Cataclysm, such as the previously mentioned connected areas. Hemet Nessingwary has made his return and he is all over the place. Alchemists once again have reusable healing and mana potions. Some forgotten currencies have been addressed like the dalaran cooking tokens.
Everything they screwed the pooch on in Cataclysm they are seemingly making some adjustments to in Mists and if there were ever a sign of good things to come that would be it. A game might be judged by its much bigger over all but it touches the minds of its players with the little things, something blizzard seemed to forget in Cataclysm. Even the little stuff matters.
Blizzard is putting all in. They are not just putting in the big chips this time, they are even putting in the little ones. They are effectively saying this hand is a winner. This hand is the best hand they ever had. They are really all in this time and they intend to win.
Do you think they have what it takes to win this hand after the horrible bluff that backfired called Cataclysm?
We can all hope. I'm not quite ready to bet the farm on them winning yet but for some reason I don't think they are bluffing. I think that they really believe they have a good hand this time.
For me the key will not be when Mists is released, the key will be when the first patch comes out. If it is more content and a raid and it is three or four months after the release of Mists I'll believe they are in it to win it. If not, all this build up, all these goodies, all of it was just another elaborate bluff. Just like the bluff they sold us when Cataclysm came out saying it would be the largest expansion ever with more patches faster than ever before.
Word to the wise blizzard, don't bluff your users again. Last time it cost you big, next time the losses could be worse. You've got our attention, time to wow us blizzard, no pun intended.
After trying to bluff with a bad hand that they named Cataclysm they are low on chips. Another bluff like that and they could very well go from being the table leader to walking home with their tail between their legs.
They announced Cataclysm saying it would be the biggest expansion with the most content ever. They said they would release new patches faster than ever before. They said a lot. They where bluffing, none of the things they said where true, not even one, and in the end everyone saw their hand. They had nothing. A pair of twos could have beaten the hand that Cataclysm was.
With Mists they have been dealt a new hand but the people sitting at the table can't just take their betting big once more as proof they have a good hand. They are going to need to wait it out to see it. They are going to have to let them play it out and see what they have.
From all this information it is hard to believe that Mists is just another bluff. They showed us what looked like a very advanced preview at the last convention and they kept it up by not only having a huge beta that was willing to invite anyone that bought an annual pass but adding many additional things to the beta that are functional but we where never even told about.
After having convention announcements for a dance studio and a path of the titans and seeing both cut before the finished product came out you have to look at this as a complete reversal for them, something we have never had the occasion to see before from them. They are adding content that was not announced. We are going to be getting more than they promised, not less. Is this all one huge bluff or are we getting ready to see blizzard whip out the royal flush?
I happen to be from the school that is hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I fell for their bluff last time. I had high expectations of Cataclysm. I was duped. I and millions of other people, some of them got up and left the table after being so insulted by the Cataclysm bluff, expected so much more the way they had played their hand. Once bitten, twice shy.
We won't get fooled again with that type of boasting about the best expansion ever but seeing blizzard going all in on this expansion has one wondering if they do actually mean it this time. Are we really going to get the biggest expansion ever now? Are we going to have more content than ever before? Will we have faster patches and more things to do? I know they did not say any of that about this expansion, they said it about the last one and I am still waiting for them to deliver on that. I am holding Mists accountable for the debt Cataclysm left behind from their unfulfilled promises.
Lets just take a look at some random numbers that are being thrown at us.
8 - New questing zones.
1 - New hub city for each the alliance and horde.
3 - New battlegrounds
1 - New arena.
10 - New or redesigned dungeons.
1 - New dungeon difficulty mode, challenge.
1 - New dungeon type called scenarios that can be done by any group make up.
10 - New scenarios.
3 - New raids
10 - Classes completely redesigned
30 - Specs completely redesigned
1 - New spec, guardian druid
1 - New class, monk
3 - New specs for monks
1 - New race, with dances, emotes and movements designed just for them
1 - New mini game, pet battles
10 - Different classes of pets
350 - Over 350 different abilities pets can have.
300 - Nearly 300 new pets
100 - Around 100 wild pets that can be captured
20 - Over 20 new factions to encounter
1 - New faction completely designed to be for lore only
6 - New cooking specializations
5 - New guild levels with redesigned bonuses
50 - Over 50 new mounts
550 - Over 550 new achievements
1200 - Over 1200 new quests
... so far.
All that and so much more.
An updated archeology that allows 6 digs per site and more pieces per dig, a wide variety of achievements for it and new collections, new races and new rares. The new farming thing and new cooking containers. The new creatures, new battles, new mechanics, new focus, new this and new that.
Many classes will find themselves with new resources like locks and arcane mages while other classes will find themselves with new ways to manage what they do like all tank specs and shamans with their totem change.
The changing and removal of things for hunters which is of course of special importance to me like the removal of minimum range and the change to needing expertise make for a new feel to how we do things for the second expansion in a row in our ever evolving class.
There will be so much to do game wise to begin with and everyone will need to relearn their class to some degree or another as most all abilities have changed, new abilities have been added, long known abilities have been removed and while it all remains the same there will be a fresh take on everything.
There are many new glyphs, most for fun and some that will be hard to decide on. Druids will be able to be the good old tree all the time now, they can be a stag travel form that can carry a passenger, they can be an orca when they swim, there is just so much to do. Hunters can even use a glyph to teach Fluffy to fetch now.
There are world bosses that turn all the mobs around them into elites and have raid like mechanics in an open world setting which could be great fun or amazing havoc, either can very well be an exciting thing.
The world Pandaria covers appears to be more than we have ever seen in one expansion and the scenery is not only visually exciting but seemingly well thought out. It is also all connected, something the world misses because of the disconnected questing areas in Cataclysm.
It seems like they have put so much into this expansion, for every bit they didn't do in Cataclysm they did it twice over in this one. They are betting the farm on it, they are pushing all in.
They are correcting a lot of the errors they made with Cataclysm, such as the previously mentioned connected areas. Hemet Nessingwary has made his return and he is all over the place. Alchemists once again have reusable healing and mana potions. Some forgotten currencies have been addressed like the dalaran cooking tokens.
Everything they screwed the pooch on in Cataclysm they are seemingly making some adjustments to in Mists and if there were ever a sign of good things to come that would be it. A game might be judged by its much bigger over all but it touches the minds of its players with the little things, something blizzard seemed to forget in Cataclysm. Even the little stuff matters.
Blizzard is putting all in. They are not just putting in the big chips this time, they are even putting in the little ones. They are effectively saying this hand is a winner. This hand is the best hand they ever had. They are really all in this time and they intend to win.
Do you think they have what it takes to win this hand after the horrible bluff that backfired called Cataclysm?
We can all hope. I'm not quite ready to bet the farm on them winning yet but for some reason I don't think they are bluffing. I think that they really believe they have a good hand this time.
For me the key will not be when Mists is released, the key will be when the first patch comes out. If it is more content and a raid and it is three or four months after the release of Mists I'll believe they are in it to win it. If not, all this build up, all these goodies, all of it was just another elaborate bluff. Just like the bluff they sold us when Cataclysm came out saying it would be the largest expansion ever with more patches faster than ever before.
Word to the wise blizzard, don't bluff your users again. Last time it cost you big, next time the losses could be worse. You've got our attention, time to wow us blizzard, no pun intended.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
WTB: Decent Looking Mail
I've never been much for transmog but I have played with it for certain things. Mostly helms really. All my characters fit neatly into two categories, don't show helm; transmog helm.
Before transmog came out the only characters I ever had the helm show on were male night elves. They bring ugly to a whole new level. All other characters I did not show helms on. Mostly this is because helms usually look horrible, fit horrible or just tend to make everyone look the same.
So for me, helms were the only thing I ever thought to transmog. Even at that, only two characters have transmogged helms. One is an engineer, can you guess what he mogged into? I'm sure you can.
So transmog held no real use to me, outside of something as a joke... until recently.
My hunter finally moved on to doing his ranged weapon and while there are a fair deal of quality bows and crossbows and guns out there my decision was simple as to what I would transmog into. Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keeper.
Using that just feels good. For some reason I just feel like a hunter again. It makes me feel bad they removed the quest from the game so others can not get it. The bow really makes a hunter a hunter, at least for me.
After doing my bow up to look all classic like it got me thinking about going for a more old school look. I was always a junk collector so I have a lot of gear sitting around. I have many full sets. I have my T5s for soloing, I have some T1.5 stuff, I have the original ZG stuff, I have a nice collection of goodies I've gathered over the years and kept for no real reason.
You might think, until now, would have been added there but it was not. I still keep them for no reason. They all look nice. They all have some sort of memory attached. They are all things that adding void storage to the game made sure I did not throw away but they all have one other thing in common. They all do not make me feel like a hunter.
I want something that feels natural, something that matches my bow. All this bulky armor that is mail is not for me. I am a hunter, not a warrior. I stay away from the action, I do not mix it up. I want something that looks the role I play. The role of being at a distance, moving like a fox, jumping and spinning and kiting and trapping and all those good hunter like things. I do not care if the game wants to call it mail but at least make it look like I could do hunterly things in it.
Come now. Can you see a hunter wearing that stuff trying to sneak around people in camo? They would hear him coming like a bull running through a china shop. I can see having a little extra protection, something chain mail would offer, but mail gear in game looks more like light plate and less like reenforced leather which is what it should be.
I would love to see some mail gear that looks like something a hunter would wear. I've looked all over at gear sets. On ivy veins there is a spectacular hunter transmog guide. Nothing there looks hunterly however, but that is not their fault. There is one on wowhead, there are a few sites dedicated just to hunter transmog, I've checked them all out and none of them have anything that looks like a hunter would wear it. Again, not their fault.
I looked over all of them thinking perhaps one caught something the others had not come across but it seems they didn't. There is just nothing out there that looks right. Unless you are female.
I've found a few things I would consider borderline; the I might consider this sort of thing, but they still look horrible on a male hunter. On a female hunter they are passable but not on a male. Being I do not wish to do a sex change on my character I am back to square one now on looking for gear.
I'd like to see something added to the game gear wise for hunters to make them look more like hunters and less like warriors with ranged weapons. I would also like to see some "normal clothing" looking options in mail like there are in cloth so we could look as if we are not wearing armor at all if we wanted to.
I would just like to see some options for hunters to look like hunters. Is that really too much to ask for?
They added transmog and it meant nothing to me. When I finally decided to use it, there is nothing for me to transmog into. You would have thought if they where going to add this, they would have added more stuff specifically designed to be used with it.
Do you think they will add things like that in the future? A mail tuxedo or a mail suit and tie or mail leather looking items or anything really, anything that is not so bulky on what is supposed to be a quick, agile, sneaky hunter.
WTB: Decent Looking Mail.
Before transmog came out the only characters I ever had the helm show on were male night elves. They bring ugly to a whole new level. All other characters I did not show helms on. Mostly this is because helms usually look horrible, fit horrible or just tend to make everyone look the same.
So for me, helms were the only thing I ever thought to transmog. Even at that, only two characters have transmogged helms. One is an engineer, can you guess what he mogged into? I'm sure you can.
So transmog held no real use to me, outside of something as a joke... until recently.
My hunter finally moved on to doing his ranged weapon and while there are a fair deal of quality bows and crossbows and guns out there my decision was simple as to what I would transmog into. Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keeper.
Using that just feels good. For some reason I just feel like a hunter again. It makes me feel bad they removed the quest from the game so others can not get it. The bow really makes a hunter a hunter, at least for me.
After doing my bow up to look all classic like it got me thinking about going for a more old school look. I was always a junk collector so I have a lot of gear sitting around. I have many full sets. I have my T5s for soloing, I have some T1.5 stuff, I have the original ZG stuff, I have a nice collection of goodies I've gathered over the years and kept for no real reason.
You might think, until now, would have been added there but it was not. I still keep them for no reason. They all look nice. They all have some sort of memory attached. They are all things that adding void storage to the game made sure I did not throw away but they all have one other thing in common. They all do not make me feel like a hunter.
I want something that feels natural, something that matches my bow. All this bulky armor that is mail is not for me. I am a hunter, not a warrior. I stay away from the action, I do not mix it up. I want something that looks the role I play. The role of being at a distance, moving like a fox, jumping and spinning and kiting and trapping and all those good hunter like things. I do not care if the game wants to call it mail but at least make it look like I could do hunterly things in it.
Come now. Can you see a hunter wearing that stuff trying to sneak around people in camo? They would hear him coming like a bull running through a china shop. I can see having a little extra protection, something chain mail would offer, but mail gear in game looks more like light plate and less like reenforced leather which is what it should be.
I would love to see some mail gear that looks like something a hunter would wear. I've looked all over at gear sets. On ivy veins there is a spectacular hunter transmog guide. Nothing there looks hunterly however, but that is not their fault. There is one on wowhead, there are a few sites dedicated just to hunter transmog, I've checked them all out and none of them have anything that looks like a hunter would wear it. Again, not their fault.
I looked over all of them thinking perhaps one caught something the others had not come across but it seems they didn't. There is just nothing out there that looks right. Unless you are female.
I've found a few things I would consider borderline; the I might consider this sort of thing, but they still look horrible on a male hunter. On a female hunter they are passable but not on a male. Being I do not wish to do a sex change on my character I am back to square one now on looking for gear.
I'd like to see something added to the game gear wise for hunters to make them look more like hunters and less like warriors with ranged weapons. I would also like to see some "normal clothing" looking options in mail like there are in cloth so we could look as if we are not wearing armor at all if we wanted to.
I would just like to see some options for hunters to look like hunters. Is that really too much to ask for?
They added transmog and it meant nothing to me. When I finally decided to use it, there is nothing for me to transmog into. You would have thought if they where going to add this, they would have added more stuff specifically designed to be used with it.
Do you think they will add things like that in the future? A mail tuxedo or a mail suit and tie or mail leather looking items or anything really, anything that is not so bulky on what is supposed to be a quick, agile, sneaky hunter.
WTB: Decent Looking Mail.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Monday Random Thoughts
- This Monday I got back to getting a new mount to mention in random thoughts.
- The raven lord is mine, finally.
- I am running out of things I can do for a nice an easy daily run.
- I am starting to wonder if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
- While I hate running something all the time and never getting anything there is the other side of the coin, having nothing to run.
- Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
- Did a fun run of ICC heroic with a bunch of people that had never done it before, not even on normal.
- It is amazing how many people still wipe on LK because of shadow traps.
- This was an all guild group, they did not wipe to shadow traps once.
- My guild is weird.
- Give them something like shadow traps where the average player has problems and they do it like they have seen it a billion times.
- Give them something simple that anyone can do, and they wipe.
- Not kidding, they are awesome at the hard stuff and seem to miss the easy stuff sometimes.
- At least it makes things interesting.
- So we got some people that have never been there the achievement.
- I don't mind that the older content is easier, it will always fun to get people that have never been there the achievement.
- There is one problem with getting people that have never been some place the achievements, at least in ulduar.
- Some of the hard modes you get them for the meta keep you from getting other achievements.
- I need to get the other achievements for me.
- Maybe it is time I make a run for secondary achievements instead of making one that gets new people that hard modes.
- The amazing part is that some bosses you still can not ignore mechanics on.
- We wiped once on professor because no one switched to slimes.
- Have to love design like that.
- I told them switch to slimes and it was no problem.
- I really do love mechanics like that, the ones you can not out gear. Like shadow traps.
- That is just good design.
- Ever notice how many groups still wipe on the twins in AQ.
- Being how over powered DPS can be now you can kill them without keeping them apart, we four manned it that way last week, but back at 80 it killed pugs.
- I've seen it kill a few pugs at 85 too.
- Some mechanics are awesome, others really suck.
- Soloed some of naxx for fun and speaking of mechanics, some of them still hurt solo, a lot.
- My poor turtle will have nightmares of patchwork for sure.
- He died a few times before I figured out the timing.
- Have to love feign death, at least I did not die.
- I do need to send his shell out to the body shop however.
- Patch really laid the smack down on him.
- For me the best part of soloing is figuring it out. How to get around that one something, like I did on patch.
- The worst part of soloing is trying to figure it out and not being able to because it is impossible. It all becomes wasted time when you can never do it anyway.
- Speaking of wasting time, I am sick of wasting time trying to catch old crafty.
- You ever get the feeling something just hates you.
- I think I have caught old ironjaw 7 times in the same amount of time I have spent trying to catch old crafty once.
- It is funny fishing in an opposing city however.
- There are so many different types of people.
- My favorites are the ones that like to have fun.
- The ones that will come fish with you.
- Saw them, saw the ones that just notice and walk by, saw the ones that attack me.
- The ones that attack have a whole sub set too.
- The kill you once and move on, the try to camp type, the die and keep dying type.
- I had one hunter try to kill me and I had to wonder, what is he shooting me with, feathers?
- I usually just stand there and let them kill me but this guy would have taken all day.
- I killed him after seeing my life move almost nowhere after about 10 or 12 seconds.
- He came back a few times, I killed him a few times.
- Finally he killed me, but it was not him.
- Somehow he got a guard involved, and the guard killed me.
- Got durability loss, that is how I can be sure.
- He stopped trying after that, guess he felt good about himself.
- One word about PvP for that guy.
- If you can not kill a hunter with no pet out, that is letting you attack him, with a fishing hat and pole equip, give up on the PvP.
- Please.
- You wasted your time and mine.
- Some people are just not to bright.
- But credit where credit is due, after he died a few times he figured out how to get a guard to come to me.
- Nice trick, I have to figure out how he did it.
- Then again, I really do not care.
- If I see a horde fishing in ironforge I usually hang out with him and wish him luck.
- I only kill attackers, not achievement hunters.
- I think of it as I am an achievement hunter myself, we are brothers under the skin, no matter what faction we are part of.
- Have a great day all.
- The raven lord is mine, finally.
- I am running out of things I can do for a nice an easy daily run.
- I am starting to wonder if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
- While I hate running something all the time and never getting anything there is the other side of the coin, having nothing to run.
- Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
- Did a fun run of ICC heroic with a bunch of people that had never done it before, not even on normal.
- It is amazing how many people still wipe on LK because of shadow traps.
- This was an all guild group, they did not wipe to shadow traps once.
- My guild is weird.
- Give them something like shadow traps where the average player has problems and they do it like they have seen it a billion times.
- Give them something simple that anyone can do, and they wipe.
- Not kidding, they are awesome at the hard stuff and seem to miss the easy stuff sometimes.
- At least it makes things interesting.
- So we got some people that have never been there the achievement.
- I don't mind that the older content is easier, it will always fun to get people that have never been there the achievement.
- There is one problem with getting people that have never been some place the achievements, at least in ulduar.
- Some of the hard modes you get them for the meta keep you from getting other achievements.
- I need to get the other achievements for me.
- Maybe it is time I make a run for secondary achievements instead of making one that gets new people that hard modes.
- The amazing part is that some bosses you still can not ignore mechanics on.
- We wiped once on professor because no one switched to slimes.
- Have to love design like that.
- I told them switch to slimes and it was no problem.
- I really do love mechanics like that, the ones you can not out gear. Like shadow traps.
- That is just good design.
- Ever notice how many groups still wipe on the twins in AQ.
- Being how over powered DPS can be now you can kill them without keeping them apart, we four manned it that way last week, but back at 80 it killed pugs.
- I've seen it kill a few pugs at 85 too.
- Some mechanics are awesome, others really suck.
- Soloed some of naxx for fun and speaking of mechanics, some of them still hurt solo, a lot.
- My poor turtle will have nightmares of patchwork for sure.
- He died a few times before I figured out the timing.
- Have to love feign death, at least I did not die.
- I do need to send his shell out to the body shop however.
- Patch really laid the smack down on him.
- For me the best part of soloing is figuring it out. How to get around that one something, like I did on patch.
- The worst part of soloing is trying to figure it out and not being able to because it is impossible. It all becomes wasted time when you can never do it anyway.
- Speaking of wasting time, I am sick of wasting time trying to catch old crafty.
- You ever get the feeling something just hates you.
- I think I have caught old ironjaw 7 times in the same amount of time I have spent trying to catch old crafty once.
- It is funny fishing in an opposing city however.
- There are so many different types of people.
- My favorites are the ones that like to have fun.
- The ones that will come fish with you.
- Saw them, saw the ones that just notice and walk by, saw the ones that attack me.
- The ones that attack have a whole sub set too.
- The kill you once and move on, the try to camp type, the die and keep dying type.
- I had one hunter try to kill me and I had to wonder, what is he shooting me with, feathers?
- I usually just stand there and let them kill me but this guy would have taken all day.
- I killed him after seeing my life move almost nowhere after about 10 or 12 seconds.
- He came back a few times, I killed him a few times.
- Finally he killed me, but it was not him.
- Somehow he got a guard involved, and the guard killed me.
- Got durability loss, that is how I can be sure.
- He stopped trying after that, guess he felt good about himself.
- One word about PvP for that guy.
- If you can not kill a hunter with no pet out, that is letting you attack him, with a fishing hat and pole equip, give up on the PvP.
- Please.
- You wasted your time and mine.
- Some people are just not to bright.
- But credit where credit is due, after he died a few times he figured out how to get a guard to come to me.
- Nice trick, I have to figure out how he did it.
- Then again, I really do not care.
- If I see a horde fishing in ironforge I usually hang out with him and wish him luck.
- I only kill attackers, not achievement hunters.
- I think of it as I am an achievement hunter myself, we are brothers under the skin, no matter what faction we are part of.
- Have a great day all.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
DPS: Queue for Original Random Heroics
It is not often people even need to run dungeons any more for valor. Most people will clear DS and do the BH boss and be close enough to capping. Others just don't care because there is nothing they need from valor any more.
However, the role of a damage dealer is something special, because now when it comes to randoms, good damage dealers are needed. There are so many people gearing up and so many people trying new classes that the dungeons where they are starting at, those original heroics are, in a word, horrible.
While gearing up one of my newer 85 hunters and my lock recently I had occasion to queue up for original heroics, not HoTs, because I needed to on those, they did not have the gear yet. It was there I discovered a nightmare. A real send shivers down your spine and make sure you can not sleep for the night type of nightmare. A nightmare that could make someone want to quit the game.
The original heroics are harder than the HoTs and lets not even mention the Zuls. Killing bosses in DS is like killing quest mobs compared to the Zuls.
What it seems to be is that the tanks can handle it, even when just gearing up for the first time and some healers can handle it, even when just gearing up for the first time but the DPS is bad. I mean so bad that it makes the job of the tanks or healers nearly impossible.
There are some valid reasons for the DPS being bad so do not always blame the players 100%. People are not gemming and enchanting low level gear anymore which means the guy you used to see in your heroics when you were first doing them back in December 2010 doing 10K or 12K could very well be the same guy doing 6K or 8K. This is part of the reason the DPS has been lower in original heroics.
The original heroics need some damage dealers. Some good damage dealers. It would make everyone's life easier. Even if they are just 15K or 18K they can make a world of difference. So today I decided to do some randoms on my hunter being I did not run DS this week and wanted to cap just for achievement sake, yes, there is an achievement for getting valor.
I could have queued up for an HoT but I decided that I wanted to do my good deed for the day and queued for a any heroic. It gets me the same 150 valor and if I got an original I am sure my DPS would be a welcome addition to a group that is most likely used to seeing 6K or 7K as the top DPS..
I got into some horrible groups that suddenly were not so horrible once I joined them. You see, the biggest problem with the lower heroics is that there is not enough damage being put out so one good damage dealer can make a huge difference.
Without enough damage the job on the tank gets harder, because they are more likely to run out of cooldowns. Without enough damage the job of the healer gets harder, because the longer the fights go the more healing that needs to be done. Gearing up a healer can be a daunting task because mana is at such a premium at low gear levels. This is the reason there were no healers when the expansion started, their job was just way to hard. Until they geared up, or the DPS picked up the pace at least.
The first random I had the pleasure of getting into was a stonecore run. There where dead bodies just about everywhere and people where low on health. I could tell I was coming in after a few wipes. They where at a loss, frustrated beyond belief, and all in all their day has been a heaping pile of dung. They felt just the way any of us would after being stuck in a wipe fest with random people.
Enter the over geared DPS to the picture and seeing and hearing their story we moved on, with a little hope, to the 3rd boss, the rock guy. 44K DPS later and he was deader than a doornail and even through the internet I could hear a collective sigh of relief from these four random people I was with. Their nightmare had ended all thanks to some very high numbers when considering the content involved. The other two damage dealers did 6K each respectively and it makes me wonder what the one that left was doing if he were kicked. Or maybe he left because he was tops at 12K or 13K and felt like no one else was doing well enough and got frustrated himself. They did not say, the bones where all I saw.
In yet another run I saw a tank with aggro problems. With such high DPS it became less of an issue because things died so fast it did not matter really. In another run there was a healer that needed to drink after every pull, I heard them talking about this when I came in. Yet for some reason once some high numbers came in the healer never needed to drink again for the whole run. I am sure that healer thanked god for bringing me to that dungeon because from the conversation going on I could almost hear the healer crying because they where blaming her.
On yet another, a fresh run, I helped a group of people get some achievements and the added DPS was surely helpful to a great extent.
See, the thing is, us people, the damage dealers that are over geared now, can make a huge difference in the lives of other people by helping them out. It makes it easier on tanks gearing up. It makes it easier on healers gearing up. And believe it or not, it is very profitable. You will get heavenly shards, something you never see any more in HoTs. You will get much more cloth than you do with the nearly trashless HoTs, not to mention all the other goodies trash drops. All in all, the original heroics are just flat out more profitable to run.
A geared tank could help the lesser geared people running these, just could. A geared healer can help the lesser geared people running there, just could. A geared damage dealer will help less geared people running these. Yes, will.
The best thing of those runs was seeing people actually need items in them. When a boss goes down and something drops that they need and they get excited because it is an upgrade from a 318 I share in that joy with them. I remember that feeling. I might have nothing to get from a heroic any more. I might have nothing to get from the looking for raid any more. But I'll be damned, I was happy to see someone roll need and actually need it.
Damage dealers can make a difference in the lives of other players. Those original heroics on my lock when I was doing a horrible 7K and was top DPS were nightmares. They where the things that make people hate the game, they were what is dragging down the community and making people hate and insult others. But damage dealers can make a difference.
No one cared that the other two DPS where doing 6K in the one run because I was doing enough for all three of us. No one cared that there was a ret paladin doing 4K in one run because everything went down smoothly. No one cared because there were no wipes. No one cared because the tank did not feel like he had to do everything. No one cared because the healer was not scraping the bottom of the barrel for that last drop of mana because thing where just not going down fast enough.
No one cared because things went smoothly. People only care when there are problems and they look to fix those problems. You, yes you mr or mrs DS geared DPS, you can make everybody's life easier.
So if you have a geared damage dealer that doesn't need something from the looking for raid or the HoTs why don't you queue up for an original heroic.
Believe it or not, you will make a huge difference and not just in that one run but in the community as a whole. Remember, people only complain when things go bad. Your damage could make sure that does not happen. You will be helping people with smoother runs which makes people happy and the community needs less hate in these dungeons and a little more happiness.
The damage dealer can help save the community. Who would have ever thought it?
Next time you need some valor. Help the people out that can actually use gear and are just starting up. Its worth it for you and for them.
However, the role of a damage dealer is something special, because now when it comes to randoms, good damage dealers are needed. There are so many people gearing up and so many people trying new classes that the dungeons where they are starting at, those original heroics are, in a word, horrible.
While gearing up one of my newer 85 hunters and my lock recently I had occasion to queue up for original heroics, not HoTs, because I needed to on those, they did not have the gear yet. It was there I discovered a nightmare. A real send shivers down your spine and make sure you can not sleep for the night type of nightmare. A nightmare that could make someone want to quit the game.
The original heroics are harder than the HoTs and lets not even mention the Zuls. Killing bosses in DS is like killing quest mobs compared to the Zuls.
What it seems to be is that the tanks can handle it, even when just gearing up for the first time and some healers can handle it, even when just gearing up for the first time but the DPS is bad. I mean so bad that it makes the job of the tanks or healers nearly impossible.
There are some valid reasons for the DPS being bad so do not always blame the players 100%. People are not gemming and enchanting low level gear anymore which means the guy you used to see in your heroics when you were first doing them back in December 2010 doing 10K or 12K could very well be the same guy doing 6K or 8K. This is part of the reason the DPS has been lower in original heroics.
The original heroics need some damage dealers. Some good damage dealers. It would make everyone's life easier. Even if they are just 15K or 18K they can make a world of difference. So today I decided to do some randoms on my hunter being I did not run DS this week and wanted to cap just for achievement sake, yes, there is an achievement for getting valor.
I could have queued up for an HoT but I decided that I wanted to do my good deed for the day and queued for a any heroic. It gets me the same 150 valor and if I got an original I am sure my DPS would be a welcome addition to a group that is most likely used to seeing 6K or 7K as the top DPS..
I got into some horrible groups that suddenly were not so horrible once I joined them. You see, the biggest problem with the lower heroics is that there is not enough damage being put out so one good damage dealer can make a huge difference.
Without enough damage the job on the tank gets harder, because they are more likely to run out of cooldowns. Without enough damage the job of the healer gets harder, because the longer the fights go the more healing that needs to be done. Gearing up a healer can be a daunting task because mana is at such a premium at low gear levels. This is the reason there were no healers when the expansion started, their job was just way to hard. Until they geared up, or the DPS picked up the pace at least.
The first random I had the pleasure of getting into was a stonecore run. There where dead bodies just about everywhere and people where low on health. I could tell I was coming in after a few wipes. They where at a loss, frustrated beyond belief, and all in all their day has been a heaping pile of dung. They felt just the way any of us would after being stuck in a wipe fest with random people.
Enter the over geared DPS to the picture and seeing and hearing their story we moved on, with a little hope, to the 3rd boss, the rock guy. 44K DPS later and he was deader than a doornail and even through the internet I could hear a collective sigh of relief from these four random people I was with. Their nightmare had ended all thanks to some very high numbers when considering the content involved. The other two damage dealers did 6K each respectively and it makes me wonder what the one that left was doing if he were kicked. Or maybe he left because he was tops at 12K or 13K and felt like no one else was doing well enough and got frustrated himself. They did not say, the bones where all I saw.
In yet another run I saw a tank with aggro problems. With such high DPS it became less of an issue because things died so fast it did not matter really. In another run there was a healer that needed to drink after every pull, I heard them talking about this when I came in. Yet for some reason once some high numbers came in the healer never needed to drink again for the whole run. I am sure that healer thanked god for bringing me to that dungeon because from the conversation going on I could almost hear the healer crying because they where blaming her.
On yet another, a fresh run, I helped a group of people get some achievements and the added DPS was surely helpful to a great extent.
See, the thing is, us people, the damage dealers that are over geared now, can make a huge difference in the lives of other people by helping them out. It makes it easier on tanks gearing up. It makes it easier on healers gearing up. And believe it or not, it is very profitable. You will get heavenly shards, something you never see any more in HoTs. You will get much more cloth than you do with the nearly trashless HoTs, not to mention all the other goodies trash drops. All in all, the original heroics are just flat out more profitable to run.
A geared tank could help the lesser geared people running these, just could. A geared healer can help the lesser geared people running there, just could. A geared damage dealer will help less geared people running these. Yes, will.
The best thing of those runs was seeing people actually need items in them. When a boss goes down and something drops that they need and they get excited because it is an upgrade from a 318 I share in that joy with them. I remember that feeling. I might have nothing to get from a heroic any more. I might have nothing to get from the looking for raid any more. But I'll be damned, I was happy to see someone roll need and actually need it.
Damage dealers can make a difference in the lives of other players. Those original heroics on my lock when I was doing a horrible 7K and was top DPS were nightmares. They where the things that make people hate the game, they were what is dragging down the community and making people hate and insult others. But damage dealers can make a difference.
No one cared that the other two DPS where doing 6K in the one run because I was doing enough for all three of us. No one cared that there was a ret paladin doing 4K in one run because everything went down smoothly. No one cared because there were no wipes. No one cared because the tank did not feel like he had to do everything. No one cared because the healer was not scraping the bottom of the barrel for that last drop of mana because thing where just not going down fast enough.
No one cared because things went smoothly. People only care when there are problems and they look to fix those problems. You, yes you mr or mrs DS geared DPS, you can make everybody's life easier.
So if you have a geared damage dealer that doesn't need something from the looking for raid or the HoTs why don't you queue up for an original heroic.
Believe it or not, you will make a huge difference and not just in that one run but in the community as a whole. Remember, people only complain when things go bad. Your damage could make sure that does not happen. You will be helping people with smoother runs which makes people happy and the community needs less hate in these dungeons and a little more happiness.
The damage dealer can help save the community. Who would have ever thought it?
Next time you need some valor. Help the people out that can actually use gear and are just starting up. Its worth it for you and for them.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Bringing Back World PvP
I'm not much of a player vs player person, I am sure I have mentioned that before. I do love world player vs player however, and I am sure I have mentioned that before as well. Whenever I think of player vs player I start to think about how blizzard can bring it back and make it worth doing.
Thinking about it a bit today I've thought of a few things that I think would help the player vs player aspect of the game as well as return world PvP to the glory it once had.
Here are six things that need to be changed to see a true return to world PvP in my opinion.
City Personal:
- First up, guards. Ditch them. A few waves here and there, not so powerful, but enough to give a little resistance is all that is needed. Leave the super powered guards for the low level zones. Up to level 20 at most you can have the serious guards. After that, you are on your own. City guards are one of the reasons that world PvP has taken a huge hit.
- Second up, quest givers and key game play personal. Unflag them. Make inn keepers, quest givers, bankers and auctioneers unable to be killed. This will keep people from crying about not being able to do their quests or other things they need to do. It would also mean that on unbalanced servers you do not have to worry about excessive griefing. I know on one server I am on alliance own org and my poor tauren can never get anything done there. Some people get an ill feeling toward PvP because while leveling it ruined their game play. When I was leveling my first character I spent two days in ashenvale hoping the quest givers would respawn and I could take, or turn in, quests before they where killed again. This is one of the reasons I hate PvPers, because it left me with the feeling that most PvPers are jerks and assholes who just live to ruin the game play of others, a belief I still hold to this day.
- Third up, high military targets. We are removing super guards but that doesn't mean we can't have a few high priority targets in each city worth aiming for with a small contingent of super guards. People would receive their share of loot (more on that later) for being in the group that took down these key targets. In major cities there could be a few all over the place so instead of city attackers looking for leaders only, the attack could be anywhere that a high military target might be patrolling.
Remove Resilience:
- I can not stress this one enough. I think the removal of resilience would be the number one incentive for people to pick up playing the PvP part of the game even if they never attempted it before. There are dozens of reasons to not have resilience but only one reason to have it. Do PvPers really need to show off their 4500 resilience e-peen so badly that they refuse to accept the fact that if they where skilled at PvP they would not need that resilience to compete against someone with none? If no one had resilience it would be a fair fight based on skill always and not a fight of who put on their PvP gear and who didn't.
- The removal of resilience would also remove the number one reason I hear people say they do not like PvP. The whole gearing up concept and the need for a second set of gear just for it. If people felt they could be effective and not just a free kill target in their PvE gear they would PvP in their PvE gear. If people did not feel like they needed to collect a whole different set of gear just to PvP, and then gem, enchant, reforge and carry around a whole different set of gear, they would be more likely to jump in on the action. I can not even begin to tell you the number of times I was in a city being attacked and heard someone say, the attackers are lucky I do not have my PvP gear with me or I would help but without my PvP gear I would be useless and get slaughtered. One set of gear and the removal of resilience would fix that.
Offer Rewards:
- For the high military in major cities offer some sort of reward. Do not make the bodies need to be looted, just make it so when it is killed the gold goes directly into your bag so to speak. Perhaps have it based off the number of people used in the group. If a high military was labeled as a 40 man PvP boss it would give everyone 5 gold in a 40 man group but it if were done with a 20 man group they would get 20 gold, not 10, which would mean an even split, but more than that because they did something that required 40 people with less. Something like that. Something tangible. You will not only get the glory of the kill but the spoils as well.
- Maybe there could even be an in game raffle every day for every person that had 100 open world honor kills that day or killed at least two high military officers that day or killed one leader that day. Everyone that reached that requirement would be put into a random raffle to win 1000 gold for that day or even better, some raw gems in a goodie bag with some gold.
- Offer daily titles. Titles you can only have for the day you earn them and if you want them again tomorrow you need to complete the needed requirements to get them again. Something like if you kill 10 people in your city you get the temporary secondary title of City Defender. This would not replace your current title, it would be your secondary one. So Arthasdklol would be Arthasdklol, Destroyer's End and the next line would be City Defender. A new tab for secondary titles would be added and you could choose which one you activated that day to use, if any. Make some really hard, some super easy. When dailies reset, your secondary titles will also be reset. I am sure some alliance would love to be Pillager of Crossroad and some horde would love to be Pillager of Goldshire even if just for a day. And they would have to do it every day to get it again.
Make Killing a Gathering Profession:
- Give people more of a reason to kill people in the open world. Give non PvPers a real reason to get involved. A new catch all bag would be added for all players called the booty bag. Whenever you kill someone you get a gathering resource based on that persons professions. It would also be an item that fits the level of the person and it could come in amounts of 1-4 of said item. You kill a jewelcrafter you have a chance at getting a gem. Kill a skinner or leatherworker have a chance to get some leather. Kill a miner or blacksmith you have a chance to get some ore. Kill someone with no professions and you could get anything. You get the idea. I can see it already in guild chat. I'm going out to do some gathering at crossroads if anyone wants to come. I need some BC leather so heading to hellfire to see if I can find anyone flagged. Killing to gather could be fun.
- By making killing players a way to gather materials you are creating a way to break the monotony of flying around mining ore or picking herbs. People would go out killing just to spice things up or get a small change of pace from the same old same old. It would also allow people to get items for professions they do not even have. They can gather their herbs for their flasks by killing instead of needing to have an herbalist to get it themselves.
- Allow for the big score. Some random kills on very rare occasion could reward a PvP based pet in your booty bag. Just like you would see people kill a billion foxes in TB to try and get the fox kit they might start killing a billion of the opposing faction just to get some pet that can only be attained that way. Maybe even make the epic gems an extremely rare drop into your booty bag when you kill a jewelcrafter, or patterns for blacksmiths, tailors, etc. as all rare booty bag deposits.
Add World PvP Achievements:
- Many people like achievements. Adding achievements to world PvP might get quite a few people that where not previously interested in player vs player combat into it which in turn would mean more participants. Just take a look at any assembling of for the horde or for the alliance runs. There will always be people in the group that are not PvPers but are going just for the achievements and just for the mount. Achievements can be a great motivator.
- Make attacking and defending achievements for each area and main city. Defeat X amount of enemy players in Felwood, Defend stormwind from X amount of enemy invaders, Slaughter X amount of enemies while raiding thunder bluff. You get the idea. There could be ones for every zone, for every city, for every thing that would inspire people to go kill other people. Also the defeat X means there is always room to expand the achievements to add more. 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, 2500, 5000, 10000, so forth and so on.
- Make some meta achievements just like there is one for killing the four main leaders how about one for killing one high military officer in 25 different enemy settlements. Or maybe one for reaching the 100 kills in every zone. Or one for reaching the 1000 defends in each of your home cities. All things that could inspire people to PvP even if they never have before and even more so if they offer rewards like titles, pets, mounts, tabards, etc.
A Perpetual Battleground:
- How would a perpetual battleground help world PvP you might ask? Well, being there would be no win and no lose to the battleground there would be no people afraid to jump into it not knowing what to do. The battleground would serve as just one giant killing field. It is a place people can go, almost unnoticed on an individual basis, and get a taste for PvP, to practice killing and not to worry about objectives and being a fool for not understanding them. It makes for the perfect place for people to go into a PvP environment and learn. People could come and go as they wish and the sides would be kept even as best they could by the system.
- As to not be used as a farming area there would be no gathering drops into your booty bag while in the perpetual battleground and there would be a cap to how many honor kills you can farm per day in it but it would still get you into the mayhem of pure open world PvP and perhaps even inspire you to get out in the open world and start killing once you reached your cap and can no longer get anything from the battleground. After battling, you are in the grove, so might as well get out and get in the world and keep the blood flowing.
I think these six changes to player vs player could make world PvP something that would become fun again and something that would get people that have never PvPed into it. World PvP died, as a friend that has been around since the start said to me, the moment they added resilience. People became less likely to pick up their sword in defense when they knew the other team had come ready to fight and had the huge advantage of PvP gear. I happen to agree with him. I might have not played in vanilla but he is not the only one I've ever heard say that. Ask 100 hard core vanilla PvPers and most will tell you, resilience killed world PvP.
Remove resilience, add the other five incentives to get people back out in the world, and world PvP will make a huge return. I guarantee it.
Thinking about it a bit today I've thought of a few things that I think would help the player vs player aspect of the game as well as return world PvP to the glory it once had.
Here are six things that need to be changed to see a true return to world PvP in my opinion.
City Personal:
- First up, guards. Ditch them. A few waves here and there, not so powerful, but enough to give a little resistance is all that is needed. Leave the super powered guards for the low level zones. Up to level 20 at most you can have the serious guards. After that, you are on your own. City guards are one of the reasons that world PvP has taken a huge hit.
- Second up, quest givers and key game play personal. Unflag them. Make inn keepers, quest givers, bankers and auctioneers unable to be killed. This will keep people from crying about not being able to do their quests or other things they need to do. It would also mean that on unbalanced servers you do not have to worry about excessive griefing. I know on one server I am on alliance own org and my poor tauren can never get anything done there. Some people get an ill feeling toward PvP because while leveling it ruined their game play. When I was leveling my first character I spent two days in ashenvale hoping the quest givers would respawn and I could take, or turn in, quests before they where killed again. This is one of the reasons I hate PvPers, because it left me with the feeling that most PvPers are jerks and assholes who just live to ruin the game play of others, a belief I still hold to this day.
- Third up, high military targets. We are removing super guards but that doesn't mean we can't have a few high priority targets in each city worth aiming for with a small contingent of super guards. People would receive their share of loot (more on that later) for being in the group that took down these key targets. In major cities there could be a few all over the place so instead of city attackers looking for leaders only, the attack could be anywhere that a high military target might be patrolling.
Remove Resilience:
- I can not stress this one enough. I think the removal of resilience would be the number one incentive for people to pick up playing the PvP part of the game even if they never attempted it before. There are dozens of reasons to not have resilience but only one reason to have it. Do PvPers really need to show off their 4500 resilience e-peen so badly that they refuse to accept the fact that if they where skilled at PvP they would not need that resilience to compete against someone with none? If no one had resilience it would be a fair fight based on skill always and not a fight of who put on their PvP gear and who didn't.
- The removal of resilience would also remove the number one reason I hear people say they do not like PvP. The whole gearing up concept and the need for a second set of gear just for it. If people felt they could be effective and not just a free kill target in their PvE gear they would PvP in their PvE gear. If people did not feel like they needed to collect a whole different set of gear just to PvP, and then gem, enchant, reforge and carry around a whole different set of gear, they would be more likely to jump in on the action. I can not even begin to tell you the number of times I was in a city being attacked and heard someone say, the attackers are lucky I do not have my PvP gear with me or I would help but without my PvP gear I would be useless and get slaughtered. One set of gear and the removal of resilience would fix that.
Offer Rewards:
- For the high military in major cities offer some sort of reward. Do not make the bodies need to be looted, just make it so when it is killed the gold goes directly into your bag so to speak. Perhaps have it based off the number of people used in the group. If a high military was labeled as a 40 man PvP boss it would give everyone 5 gold in a 40 man group but it if were done with a 20 man group they would get 20 gold, not 10, which would mean an even split, but more than that because they did something that required 40 people with less. Something like that. Something tangible. You will not only get the glory of the kill but the spoils as well.
- Maybe there could even be an in game raffle every day for every person that had 100 open world honor kills that day or killed at least two high military officers that day or killed one leader that day. Everyone that reached that requirement would be put into a random raffle to win 1000 gold for that day or even better, some raw gems in a goodie bag with some gold.
- Offer daily titles. Titles you can only have for the day you earn them and if you want them again tomorrow you need to complete the needed requirements to get them again. Something like if you kill 10 people in your city you get the temporary secondary title of City Defender. This would not replace your current title, it would be your secondary one. So Arthasdklol would be Arthasdklol, Destroyer's End and the next line would be City Defender. A new tab for secondary titles would be added and you could choose which one you activated that day to use, if any. Make some really hard, some super easy. When dailies reset, your secondary titles will also be reset. I am sure some alliance would love to be Pillager of Crossroad and some horde would love to be Pillager of Goldshire even if just for a day. And they would have to do it every day to get it again.
Make Killing a Gathering Profession:
- Give people more of a reason to kill people in the open world. Give non PvPers a real reason to get involved. A new catch all bag would be added for all players called the booty bag. Whenever you kill someone you get a gathering resource based on that persons professions. It would also be an item that fits the level of the person and it could come in amounts of 1-4 of said item. You kill a jewelcrafter you have a chance at getting a gem. Kill a skinner or leatherworker have a chance to get some leather. Kill a miner or blacksmith you have a chance to get some ore. Kill someone with no professions and you could get anything. You get the idea. I can see it already in guild chat. I'm going out to do some gathering at crossroads if anyone wants to come. I need some BC leather so heading to hellfire to see if I can find anyone flagged. Killing to gather could be fun.
- By making killing players a way to gather materials you are creating a way to break the monotony of flying around mining ore or picking herbs. People would go out killing just to spice things up or get a small change of pace from the same old same old. It would also allow people to get items for professions they do not even have. They can gather their herbs for their flasks by killing instead of needing to have an herbalist to get it themselves.
- Allow for the big score. Some random kills on very rare occasion could reward a PvP based pet in your booty bag. Just like you would see people kill a billion foxes in TB to try and get the fox kit they might start killing a billion of the opposing faction just to get some pet that can only be attained that way. Maybe even make the epic gems an extremely rare drop into your booty bag when you kill a jewelcrafter, or patterns for blacksmiths, tailors, etc. as all rare booty bag deposits.
Add World PvP Achievements:
- Many people like achievements. Adding achievements to world PvP might get quite a few people that where not previously interested in player vs player combat into it which in turn would mean more participants. Just take a look at any assembling of for the horde or for the alliance runs. There will always be people in the group that are not PvPers but are going just for the achievements and just for the mount. Achievements can be a great motivator.
- Make attacking and defending achievements for each area and main city. Defeat X amount of enemy players in Felwood, Defend stormwind from X amount of enemy invaders, Slaughter X amount of enemies while raiding thunder bluff. You get the idea. There could be ones for every zone, for every city, for every thing that would inspire people to go kill other people. Also the defeat X means there is always room to expand the achievements to add more. 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, 2500, 5000, 10000, so forth and so on.
- Make some meta achievements just like there is one for killing the four main leaders how about one for killing one high military officer in 25 different enemy settlements. Or maybe one for reaching the 100 kills in every zone. Or one for reaching the 1000 defends in each of your home cities. All things that could inspire people to PvP even if they never have before and even more so if they offer rewards like titles, pets, mounts, tabards, etc.
A Perpetual Battleground:
- How would a perpetual battleground help world PvP you might ask? Well, being there would be no win and no lose to the battleground there would be no people afraid to jump into it not knowing what to do. The battleground would serve as just one giant killing field. It is a place people can go, almost unnoticed on an individual basis, and get a taste for PvP, to practice killing and not to worry about objectives and being a fool for not understanding them. It makes for the perfect place for people to go into a PvP environment and learn. People could come and go as they wish and the sides would be kept even as best they could by the system.
- As to not be used as a farming area there would be no gathering drops into your booty bag while in the perpetual battleground and there would be a cap to how many honor kills you can farm per day in it but it would still get you into the mayhem of pure open world PvP and perhaps even inspire you to get out in the open world and start killing once you reached your cap and can no longer get anything from the battleground. After battling, you are in the grove, so might as well get out and get in the world and keep the blood flowing.
I think these six changes to player vs player could make world PvP something that would become fun again and something that would get people that have never PvPed into it. World PvP died, as a friend that has been around since the start said to me, the moment they added resilience. People became less likely to pick up their sword in defense when they knew the other team had come ready to fight and had the huge advantage of PvP gear. I happen to agree with him. I might have not played in vanilla but he is not the only one I've ever heard say that. Ask 100 hard core vanilla PvPers and most will tell you, resilience killed world PvP.
Remove resilience, add the other five incentives to get people back out in the world, and world PvP will make a huge return. I guarantee it.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
What Type of Achievement Hunter Are You?
Achievements are going account bound with mists and there are many reasons to like or dislike it depending on what your personal views on achievements are.
Achievements mean different things to different people. To some it is an e-peen thing. To others it is something they feel validates their time wasted playing a game because they earned something. For others it is just there but not something they actively think about. And yet for others it is a form of content itself just like a raid would be content, something to do.
Something as simple as the achievement system has become a huge part of the game even if it sometimes goes by without even thinking about it.
There are people like me that look at the list of new achievements and immediately starts to think about which ones I can do solo and which ones I will need groups for. I actively seek the solo ones as something to do when not doing anything else. Other people come across an achievement and go, wow, I didn't even know that was an achievement. There are all different types..
Which type of achievement hunter are you?
E-Peen Achievement Hunter:
This is the type of person that goes out of their way to try and be the first to do anything and everything. They are the ones that have to have realm firsts and will gladly show everyone that asks, and doesn't ask, how great they are by posting their achievements and immediately shooting down anyone as a "bad" that doesn't have the same date on their achievement.
They only go for the achievements worthy of bragging about. Realm first mage is important to them. Realm first raid is important to them. The salty title is a waste of time to them because anyone can get it. It only means something to them if they did it before the other person.
There is also the wanna be e-peen hunter that would fit in the same category even when not talking about firsts. They might have a fall of deathwing achievement dated May 10th, which most would not be impressed by, but if you do not have it, they will brag on and on about how they have it and you don't, just to extend their e-peen. This version of e-peen hunter would think salty is important however because if they have it and you don't they can use it to stroke their e-peen.
Completest Achievement Hunter:
They take achievements serious, but not to the point where they go crazy about it. If getting a raid achievement would be easier to get next patch, they do not mind waiting, but they have to do it because they need it. Seeing 54/56 in an achievement category bothers them because it is not complete. They want to have everything because they believe the only true achievement is completing all the achievements. Each one of those 54 achievements are nice, but until they have all 56 in that category they have not really achieved anything.
A completest will raid even if they are not a raider, because they have to have them all. A completest will PvP even if they do not PvP, because they have to have them all. A completest sees each achievement as part of a bigger achievement, the achievement of getting them all. It is the over all number and getting as many as they can that matters to them, even if they take their time doing it.
Content Achievement Hunter:
This is the type of player that uses achievements as a form of content. To them, like the completest, when they see 54/56 they want to get the other two but unlike the completest that looks at it as the real achievement isn't done until all 56 are the content achievement hunter looks at it like they have two other things to do for content.
Where the content and completest differ is the content hunter does not stress over having it all. 54/56 is fine with them. They will do only the ones they want to do and use the achievements list as a form of tracking to see what they have and have not done. They are the type of person we have all seen and quite possibly the most common achievement person. Hey, I just noticed I never did black temple on this character, who wants to go? Is something a content achievement hunter would say. They use achievements as a way of giving them something to do when they do not have anything else to do.
Dedicated Achievement Hunter:
These are the people dedicated to having to get it done. Kind of like the e-peen one that has to be first this one has to be done as soon as possible but they will not be as up front about it as the e-peen hunter. They will also not rub it in your face. They will just be happy to have done it.
This category of hunter usually comes from the dedicated raider or dedicated PvPer. They focus one thing and that one thing is not done until they can do it all. They are dedicated to that single focus. To them, nothing says you are a real raider like having all the raid achievement. Nothing says you are a real PvPer like having all the PvP achievements. They do not seek the achievements to rub it in someones face, they do it to show people who they are. I am raider. I am a PvPer. My achievements show that. That is what they would say and they are really dedicated to getting those achievements, none of the others really matter at all to them.
Incidental Achievement Hunter:
This is the type of person that usually only gets the achievements that come without much, or any, effort. 25 fish, level 10, things that happen just because they do are the achievements this person will have. So why are they still classified as an achievement hunter? Because if you tell them that they can get an achievement for doing something without actually changing what they are doing already by much, they will do it.
They are the type of person that if you ask them why they are fishing and they say it is because they are waiting in queue and only doing it because they are bored you can tell them they can get achievements from fishing in the dalaran fountain they will move there. Being they are only fishing to pass the time where they fish does not matter to them but if they can fish to pass the time and get an achievement at the same time, they will do it. They won't go out of their way for an achievement, but they will take all the ones that will come to them on their own without any concentrated effort.
Closeted Achievement Hunter:
Oddly enough this type of achievement hunter will usually have a fair deal of achievements but if you ever ask them about achievements they might say something like they are not a loser that wastes their time on useless achievements or I'm not really into achievements. They will be the ones that will come along to help out on things only if they do not have the achievement for it but will never say that. Doing a run of black temple and they do not have the achievement, they will gladly tell you they will help you out. Doing a run of tempest keep but they already have the achievement, they are busy at the moment or they would have helped.
The closeted hunter is an achievement hunter in denial. They want the achievements, they want as many as they can get, you can tell that from their usually high number of achievement points, even if they always say they do not care about achievements. You can pick them out easily when running old content because they will always be happy to help other people get achievements but never ask for help in getting any themselves. They are a closeted achievement hunter.
Bonus Achievement Hunter:
This is an achievement hunter with an agenda. Does it offer a pet? Does it offer a mount? Does it offer a title? If so they are all over it like white on rice otherwise they don't care about it. Achievements matter to them only when there is something else that comes along with the achievement. They want the bonus goodies only, that is all that matters. The achievement pop up means absolutely nothing to them unless it comes with something else. A new title, a mount or pet in their mail box, or anything else they can show off. A tabard, the dalaran coin, things like that.
Indifferent Achievement Hunter:
This person does not care about achievements in any way. If they get one, cool, if not, that is cool too. If they get a bonus out of something, cool, if not, that is cool too. The word achievement is not even in their gaming vocabulary. They play because they enjoy playing. They do what aspects of the game they like because they like doing it. The thought they will get an achievement for something never enters their mind. They might get the destroyers end title or many others but they will usually be the ones that wear none. None of that matters to them. They are only here to play the game.
With the shared achievements coming out in mists you have to look at all the types of achievement hunters out there and see how this changes the game for them in one way or another. It will have a fair deal of impact on nearly all types of achievement hunters out there in some why, even the ones that do not care about achievements at all.
I fit into the content achievement hunter category myself. When I am bored and looking for something to do I go to my achievement list and think, what can I aim for now. Shared achievements will impact me and people like me the most of all the types of achievement hunters out there I think. We lose the most when this comes out.
If all my characters already have all the dungeon achievements what need would I have to go back and do all the BC stuff on a new character when I am bored, they will already have the achievement. Achievements worked as a form of content for me. It gave me something to do when I was bored.
What type of achievement hunter are you and how will shared achievements effect you?
Achievements mean different things to different people. To some it is an e-peen thing. To others it is something they feel validates their time wasted playing a game because they earned something. For others it is just there but not something they actively think about. And yet for others it is a form of content itself just like a raid would be content, something to do.
Something as simple as the achievement system has become a huge part of the game even if it sometimes goes by without even thinking about it.
There are people like me that look at the list of new achievements and immediately starts to think about which ones I can do solo and which ones I will need groups for. I actively seek the solo ones as something to do when not doing anything else. Other people come across an achievement and go, wow, I didn't even know that was an achievement. There are all different types..
Which type of achievement hunter are you?
E-Peen Achievement Hunter:
This is the type of person that goes out of their way to try and be the first to do anything and everything. They are the ones that have to have realm firsts and will gladly show everyone that asks, and doesn't ask, how great they are by posting their achievements and immediately shooting down anyone as a "bad" that doesn't have the same date on their achievement.
They only go for the achievements worthy of bragging about. Realm first mage is important to them. Realm first raid is important to them. The salty title is a waste of time to them because anyone can get it. It only means something to them if they did it before the other person.
There is also the wanna be e-peen hunter that would fit in the same category even when not talking about firsts. They might have a fall of deathwing achievement dated May 10th, which most would not be impressed by, but if you do not have it, they will brag on and on about how they have it and you don't, just to extend their e-peen. This version of e-peen hunter would think salty is important however because if they have it and you don't they can use it to stroke their e-peen.
Completest Achievement Hunter:
They take achievements serious, but not to the point where they go crazy about it. If getting a raid achievement would be easier to get next patch, they do not mind waiting, but they have to do it because they need it. Seeing 54/56 in an achievement category bothers them because it is not complete. They want to have everything because they believe the only true achievement is completing all the achievements. Each one of those 54 achievements are nice, but until they have all 56 in that category they have not really achieved anything.
A completest will raid even if they are not a raider, because they have to have them all. A completest will PvP even if they do not PvP, because they have to have them all. A completest sees each achievement as part of a bigger achievement, the achievement of getting them all. It is the over all number and getting as many as they can that matters to them, even if they take their time doing it.
Content Achievement Hunter:
This is the type of player that uses achievements as a form of content. To them, like the completest, when they see 54/56 they want to get the other two but unlike the completest that looks at it as the real achievement isn't done until all 56 are the content achievement hunter looks at it like they have two other things to do for content.
Where the content and completest differ is the content hunter does not stress over having it all. 54/56 is fine with them. They will do only the ones they want to do and use the achievements list as a form of tracking to see what they have and have not done. They are the type of person we have all seen and quite possibly the most common achievement person. Hey, I just noticed I never did black temple on this character, who wants to go? Is something a content achievement hunter would say. They use achievements as a way of giving them something to do when they do not have anything else to do.
Dedicated Achievement Hunter:
These are the people dedicated to having to get it done. Kind of like the e-peen one that has to be first this one has to be done as soon as possible but they will not be as up front about it as the e-peen hunter. They will also not rub it in your face. They will just be happy to have done it.
This category of hunter usually comes from the dedicated raider or dedicated PvPer. They focus one thing and that one thing is not done until they can do it all. They are dedicated to that single focus. To them, nothing says you are a real raider like having all the raid achievement. Nothing says you are a real PvPer like having all the PvP achievements. They do not seek the achievements to rub it in someones face, they do it to show people who they are. I am raider. I am a PvPer. My achievements show that. That is what they would say and they are really dedicated to getting those achievements, none of the others really matter at all to them.
Incidental Achievement Hunter:
This is the type of person that usually only gets the achievements that come without much, or any, effort. 25 fish, level 10, things that happen just because they do are the achievements this person will have. So why are they still classified as an achievement hunter? Because if you tell them that they can get an achievement for doing something without actually changing what they are doing already by much, they will do it.
They are the type of person that if you ask them why they are fishing and they say it is because they are waiting in queue and only doing it because they are bored you can tell them they can get achievements from fishing in the dalaran fountain they will move there. Being they are only fishing to pass the time where they fish does not matter to them but if they can fish to pass the time and get an achievement at the same time, they will do it. They won't go out of their way for an achievement, but they will take all the ones that will come to them on their own without any concentrated effort.
Closeted Achievement Hunter:
Oddly enough this type of achievement hunter will usually have a fair deal of achievements but if you ever ask them about achievements they might say something like they are not a loser that wastes their time on useless achievements or I'm not really into achievements. They will be the ones that will come along to help out on things only if they do not have the achievement for it but will never say that. Doing a run of black temple and they do not have the achievement, they will gladly tell you they will help you out. Doing a run of tempest keep but they already have the achievement, they are busy at the moment or they would have helped.
The closeted hunter is an achievement hunter in denial. They want the achievements, they want as many as they can get, you can tell that from their usually high number of achievement points, even if they always say they do not care about achievements. You can pick them out easily when running old content because they will always be happy to help other people get achievements but never ask for help in getting any themselves. They are a closeted achievement hunter.
Bonus Achievement Hunter:
This is an achievement hunter with an agenda. Does it offer a pet? Does it offer a mount? Does it offer a title? If so they are all over it like white on rice otherwise they don't care about it. Achievements matter to them only when there is something else that comes along with the achievement. They want the bonus goodies only, that is all that matters. The achievement pop up means absolutely nothing to them unless it comes with something else. A new title, a mount or pet in their mail box, or anything else they can show off. A tabard, the dalaran coin, things like that.
Indifferent Achievement Hunter:
This person does not care about achievements in any way. If they get one, cool, if not, that is cool too. If they get a bonus out of something, cool, if not, that is cool too. The word achievement is not even in their gaming vocabulary. They play because they enjoy playing. They do what aspects of the game they like because they like doing it. The thought they will get an achievement for something never enters their mind. They might get the destroyers end title or many others but they will usually be the ones that wear none. None of that matters to them. They are only here to play the game.
With the shared achievements coming out in mists you have to look at all the types of achievement hunters out there and see how this changes the game for them in one way or another. It will have a fair deal of impact on nearly all types of achievement hunters out there in some why, even the ones that do not care about achievements at all.
I fit into the content achievement hunter category myself. When I am bored and looking for something to do I go to my achievement list and think, what can I aim for now. Shared achievements will impact me and people like me the most of all the types of achievement hunters out there I think. We lose the most when this comes out.
If all my characters already have all the dungeon achievements what need would I have to go back and do all the BC stuff on a new character when I am bored, they will already have the achievement. Achievements worked as a form of content for me. It gave me something to do when I was bored.
What type of achievement hunter are you and how will shared achievements effect you?
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