While I might not be a veteran of role playing in WoW as I have done very little of it I do have quite a bit of experience in role playing. My experiences, while different, still touch on the basics of role playing.
When you are new to role playing it is more about finding your footing and I am going to present a few tips that will help you do just that in any multi player venue you might want to role play.
1) The Basic Knowledge
If you are serious about role playing in WoW the first thing you should do is get a grasp for the basic knowledge of the class and race you wish to play. Class you can wing it with because you learn your skills as you go so it is rather simple. Don't have a skill yet? Play like you have not learned it, heck you can even play like you have never heard of it and how cool it sounds and you can't wait until you are skilled enough to learn it. Not really hard there right?
Race is a little different. If you are rolling a troll the absolute least you should know are the troll starting areas and maybe even a few names of the lore characters there. For a nice touch you can even try to remember the names of your class and profession trainers from the starting area. You should be able to spell these things too. I know it is only role play but nothing shows a lack of preparation if you can not even spell your home towns name.
You do not need to know the history of the troll race. You do not need to know the history of their relationships with the other races. Actually, you do not need to know a god damned thing outside of the starting areas. Unless you're role playing as a history scholar or a politician or someone that should know about these things it is not imperative you know them.
Better role players or people that really wish to know a lot will of course know everything there is to know about the troll race and its history. That is fine for them but as a beginning player it will be easier to keep it simple and just make your character a normal person and not some world scholar.
One note I must point out however. Remember that your characters are NOT you. If you are level 30 your character might have heard of northrend but it will surely not have any first hand knowledge of it.
2) Interactions
Role playing without any interaction can have its place but the key to real personal story development is to interact with others. There are a few things a new role player needs to remember when interacting with others in any form of role play and the one biggest blunder by new players usually comes directly from here.
You do not know people that first time you meet them. This is something I have seen hard core role players mess up on. It is something that bugs me to no end when I role play. You can't just walk up to someone and say "Hello Seth" if you have never met them or there is no reason you would have known their name is Seth. Just because you can read their name doesn't mean you know it.
The same goes for titles. The same goes for guilds. Just because these things are listed over a persons head in the game it is not a license to assume you know them. If someone does not tell you information you do not know it.
With that said, address people as sir or ma'am or what have you until you are told their name. Do not mention their name, title or anything else while speaking to them until you have been told it or given a reasonable belief that you overheard it elsewhere and can say where you overheard it.
Keep all your interactions within the knowledge range of your character. Just like you might know the character is 85 and of course has been to twilight highlands you can not ask if they know "how the fishing in twilight highlands is". You can ask if they have ever been there and then ask about the fishing. Keep your interactions fresh and do not include any information you can get from looking at their character out of it.
3) Don't Be The Good Guy
No, I am serious. If you are new at role playing it is a lot easier to play the bad guy than it is the good guy. Anyone that has ever role played seriously will tell you that working stories as a bad guy is so much easier. If you are new and want to break into role playing, being a bad guy will make your life so much easier.
I am not saying that you have to be such an evil jerk that was so bad he was kicked out from hell but being a bad guy does give you the ability to cover up for a lack of knowledge, or the fact you have knowledge that you should not have had among other things.
A conversation about a lore character you should know pops up, playing a bad guy makes it easier to end the conversation. Just say you hate them and would rather not talk about them. If asked why, being the bad guy that you are you can always snap back, it is none of your business.
Caught accidentally talking about something you are not supposed to know? You are the bad guy, you have lots of underground sources that feed you information for a small sum.
Not knowing something that you should know? Play it coy but play it coy as if you are being hush hush about it for a reason. As a bad guy people will just think you are up to something by hiding information they know that you know.
If you play it as if you are always working some angle for your own personal gain it almost gives you a license to speak about some things only when you want to.
4) Getting Started in Group Settings
When in a group setting or meeting people for the first time as a new role player it can be really hard to find your place. First things first, do not interject yourself into someones role play by commenting immediately. If you feel the need to join a conversation start with an "excuse me but I overheard you talking about..." and you will either be invited to the conversation or asked to mind your own business.
The first few lines when breaking into a group role play are always the hardest but remember that not all conversation needs to be said. What? How can a conversation not be said?
There are emotes for a reason. Emote what you are doing. Looking up and noticing the color of the leaves on the trees have changed might bring someone to ask what you are looking at. Noticing the dagger on the rogue from a distance might bring the rogue to ask you what you are staring at. Things like that.
You can have an entire emote role play all by yourself while looking around and it is often the best way to get invited into a conversation or strike up a completely new one. If you are very descriptive in what you are seeing and how you are seeing it in emotes it will also let the people around you know that you are good at making things up on the fly which is a great trait for a good role player and could make them more interested in talking to you and inviting you to their role play.
5) Remember it is a Game
This should go unsaid but it should be mentioned that this is a game. Sure you might have killed deathwing but so have millions of other people. Deathwing is one person and there is no way in hell that millions of people have killed him.
This means don't go around bragging that you have killed deathwing. Each server seems to have their own way of handling this situation but what seems to be common is that the guild (and people) that got server first are considered the people that killed deathwing for role play purposes.
Mind you, I could be wrong here as I only have characters on two RP servers so I am not versed on all of them in any way shape or form, I am a WoW RP rookie. But that does not change the fact that usually it is a safe bet that you did not kill deathwing because if you did do so on a role play server you would probably have more knowledge of how they handle it on that server already.
You can say you ventured to DS. You can say you have fought big baddies there. You can say things like that but the big name, that one huge kill that ends it, that one is always reserved for the appropriate people to role play they did it. Just because it is a game where everyone can kill the big baddies doesn't mean everyone can role play as if they are the one person (or group) that did it.
Tips for Beginners
1) Take Notes:
Seriously. I have a book with information I need. Names of places and lore figures. Names of people I have met and what information about them I know. Notes about things I know that my character doesn't know but have a bearing on how I should act. No matter how good your memory is you are bound to forget something. Notes help a lot.
2) No Internet Slang:
I might be alone on this one but there is nothing I hate more than internet speak when role playing. If you can not picture your character saying BRB don't type it. Type be right back. It is to or too, not 2. Unless you mean two never use a 2. For does not equal 4 even if they sound the same. Honestly, if you can't be bothered to type correctly, don't become a role player.
3) Be Quiet:
When new it is one of the best ways to learn. Learn by listening. It might sound stupid but put yourself AFK and listen to how other people talk, it can be a powerful learning tool and being AFK will keep people from dragging you into the conversation.
Well, that's it for now. I am sure people that are more versed in WoW role play can give you more in depth advise but as a role player for many years I have found that these rules seem to follow in all versions of role play and it might be able to help you when you are new.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
What is a Good Player?
A question like what is a good player has more then one correct answer. Actually, it probably has many different answers. We all judge what we consider a good player to be in a slightly different way.
For me personally I have two distinctly different definitions of what a good player is. The first, the simple one, is the one most people probably think when they think of a good player.
A good player is a skilled player.
Plain and simple right? But not always. Skilled players can come in many shapes and sizes and that is where being a good player comes in. You can be skilled and be a bad player in my opinion. To be a good player means being a good player. It is not all about skill.
Someone might see a fire mage pulling 90K and think he is a good player whereas when I see a fire mage doing 90K I think he is doing good DPS. I reserve my right to judge his status as a player until I see more. Numbers are not everything and numbers alone will not make someone a good player.
So when I talk about a good player what do I mean if I am not talking about their numbers?
Here are the big 5 things to look for in a good player, in my opinion. These are not the only 5 things that make a player good. They are just the five most important things to me.
5) Adaptability
Adaptability covers many different aspects of the game. A good player can adapt to anything.
A mage that has played arcane since BC but notices that fire is so much better lately and switches because it is the best route and picks it up relatively quickly has good adaptability.
A tank that notices at a certain point in a fight he seems to take a spike of damage and adjusts his cooldowns to handle it the next time he encounters it has good adaptability.
Any raider that sees a mechanic they have never encountered before and after only a few attempts, 1-5 at most, they have mastered that new mechanic has good adaptability.
Anyone that is ever confronted with something that requires them to change from their normal and does it as needed on their own has good adaptability. This ability is the sign of a good player.
4) Demeanor
A persons demeanor can tell a lot about a person in real life and in the game and someone with a good demeanor is usually someone that is, or can be, a good player.
I am sure if you have read my blog you have heard me say it before but for this it bears repeating. Usually the first person to start complaining in a random raid or dungeon is the worst player in the group. Many of you have probably noticed this yourself as well. It is not always true but it is true a fair deal of the time, enough so that you can usually say that someone with a rude demeanor is most likely a bad player.
Being a good player is not only about your actual game play but about how you present yourself to others. How you behave toward others is almost as important as how well you play your role in my opinion. No matter how skilled someone is if they have a bad demeanor they are a bad player. A skill player, yes, but a bad player nonetheless.
3) Sacrifice
A good player knows that everything is not always about personal achievement it is about team achievement.
A healer assigned to tank duty instead of raid in a heavy AoE fight and doesn't complain because it will hurt their HPS is sacrificing their numbers for the team and that makes them a good player.
A damage dealer put on interrupt detail that does not complain that their DPS will fall if they have to interrupt and is willing to sacrifice some numbers for the betterment of everyone is a good player.
A player that dies in battle and is not rezzed but never says anything about it or begs for a rez is a good player because they are willing to sit out being dead because they know that battle rez might be needed for someone else later that could very well hold a more vital role in the battle at that given moment.
A person that wins a minor upgrade but passes it to someone else who it would be a larger upgrade makes the sacrifice of gear for the betterment of the group and is a good player.
2) Accountability
We all make mistakes. Even people in world first guilds make mistakes. It happens, no one is perfect even if some people like to think they are. If after a wipe a healer says they need to manage their mana better next attempt, they are taking accountability for their actions.
The word *I* plays a huge part here. If after a wipe someone says *I* should have moved faster instead of, why didn't I get heals until I was able to move, is holding themselves accountable for their own actions. *I* could have done more DPS. *I* could have used shield wall. *I* could have used pain suppression on the tank. *I* is the key word that shows people are willing to take responsibility for their own mistakes.
Yes, in many of those cases the healer could have healed someone while they moved. The tank could have used a cooldown to help the healer. The healer could have used a cooldown to help the tank. Etc. Yes, it is a group effort but when someone notices that there is something they could have done themselves they will never place blame on someone else squarely. They are willing to acknowledge that there was something they could have done to address the problem on their own.
Like the old huntard joke. What is the difference between a hunter and a huntard? If a huntard pulls extra mobs and the tank does not pick them up its the tanks fault, if a hunter pulls extra mobs and the tank does not pick them up he apologizes to the group for accidentally pulling.
1) Knowledge
Knowledge leads to skill and without it someone can never become a skilled player. A good player has a knowledge of their role and what it can do. A good paladin or shaman healer will get to the azshara fight and say, I got interrupts knowing they both 1) have that ability and 2) it will make the fight a lot easier for everyone else.
There are countless shaman and paladin healers out there that are skilled. They are amazing healers really but they do not even know that they have an interrupt. Couple that with the fact they do not even realize that them interrupting will make the fight a lot easier for the group and all their skill means nothing, because they are a bad player.
Knowing the abilities you have even when you do not use them often, or at all, shows someone is a good player that knows their role.
Knowing a fight from all aspects even if you only play it from one shows that the person is a good player that can see the big picture.
Knowledge is power. It is so true.
People often confuse the term good player and skilled player. They often think they mean the same thing but they do not. A good player and a skilled player are two completely different things. You can have a good player that plays badly and you can have someone that is skilled that is not a good player.
The key is that being a good player is about the person and being a skilled player is about the practice.
Anyone can become a skilled player. You do not need to be a good player to be skilled, you just need to practice enough to be skilled. Skill is a learned ability. Skill is pressing the right keys at the right time. That can be taught. Anything that can be taught can be learned by anyone, good player or not.
The abilities of a good player says something about the person and most things a good player does can not be taught. Someone that can adapt to things (5) on the fly, someone that has a good demeanor (4), someone that is willing to take one for the team (3), someone that takes responsibility for their actions (2) and someone that has a natural thirst for knowledge (1) says something about the person and their personality in real life.
In the end, it is a lot easier for a bad player to become a skilled player than it would be for them to become a good player.
So the next time you see someone doing 90K DPS that does not mean they are a good player and the next time to see someone doing 12K that does not mean they are a bad player. Yes, first impressions are hard to shake and numbers are our first impression but remember, a good player doing 12K can learn to become a skilled player doing 90K but a skill player doing 90K that happens to be a bad player will most likely never be a good player because it is their personality that makes them a bad player.
Being a good player is about the person, not the skill level.
For me personally I have two distinctly different definitions of what a good player is. The first, the simple one, is the one most people probably think when they think of a good player.
A good player is a skilled player.
Plain and simple right? But not always. Skilled players can come in many shapes and sizes and that is where being a good player comes in. You can be skilled and be a bad player in my opinion. To be a good player means being a good player. It is not all about skill.
Someone might see a fire mage pulling 90K and think he is a good player whereas when I see a fire mage doing 90K I think he is doing good DPS. I reserve my right to judge his status as a player until I see more. Numbers are not everything and numbers alone will not make someone a good player.
So when I talk about a good player what do I mean if I am not talking about their numbers?
Here are the big 5 things to look for in a good player, in my opinion. These are not the only 5 things that make a player good. They are just the five most important things to me.
5) Adaptability
Adaptability covers many different aspects of the game. A good player can adapt to anything.
A mage that has played arcane since BC but notices that fire is so much better lately and switches because it is the best route and picks it up relatively quickly has good adaptability.
A tank that notices at a certain point in a fight he seems to take a spike of damage and adjusts his cooldowns to handle it the next time he encounters it has good adaptability.
Any raider that sees a mechanic they have never encountered before and after only a few attempts, 1-5 at most, they have mastered that new mechanic has good adaptability.
Anyone that is ever confronted with something that requires them to change from their normal and does it as needed on their own has good adaptability. This ability is the sign of a good player.
4) Demeanor
A persons demeanor can tell a lot about a person in real life and in the game and someone with a good demeanor is usually someone that is, or can be, a good player.
I am sure if you have read my blog you have heard me say it before but for this it bears repeating. Usually the first person to start complaining in a random raid or dungeon is the worst player in the group. Many of you have probably noticed this yourself as well. It is not always true but it is true a fair deal of the time, enough so that you can usually say that someone with a rude demeanor is most likely a bad player.
Being a good player is not only about your actual game play but about how you present yourself to others. How you behave toward others is almost as important as how well you play your role in my opinion. No matter how skilled someone is if they have a bad demeanor they are a bad player. A skill player, yes, but a bad player nonetheless.
3) Sacrifice
A good player knows that everything is not always about personal achievement it is about team achievement.
A healer assigned to tank duty instead of raid in a heavy AoE fight and doesn't complain because it will hurt their HPS is sacrificing their numbers for the team and that makes them a good player.
A damage dealer put on interrupt detail that does not complain that their DPS will fall if they have to interrupt and is willing to sacrifice some numbers for the betterment of everyone is a good player.
A player that dies in battle and is not rezzed but never says anything about it or begs for a rez is a good player because they are willing to sit out being dead because they know that battle rez might be needed for someone else later that could very well hold a more vital role in the battle at that given moment.
A person that wins a minor upgrade but passes it to someone else who it would be a larger upgrade makes the sacrifice of gear for the betterment of the group and is a good player.
2) Accountability
We all make mistakes. Even people in world first guilds make mistakes. It happens, no one is perfect even if some people like to think they are. If after a wipe a healer says they need to manage their mana better next attempt, they are taking accountability for their actions.
The word *I* plays a huge part here. If after a wipe someone says *I* should have moved faster instead of, why didn't I get heals until I was able to move, is holding themselves accountable for their own actions. *I* could have done more DPS. *I* could have used shield wall. *I* could have used pain suppression on the tank. *I* is the key word that shows people are willing to take responsibility for their own mistakes.
Yes, in many of those cases the healer could have healed someone while they moved. The tank could have used a cooldown to help the healer. The healer could have used a cooldown to help the tank. Etc. Yes, it is a group effort but when someone notices that there is something they could have done themselves they will never place blame on someone else squarely. They are willing to acknowledge that there was something they could have done to address the problem on their own.
Like the old huntard joke. What is the difference between a hunter and a huntard? If a huntard pulls extra mobs and the tank does not pick them up its the tanks fault, if a hunter pulls extra mobs and the tank does not pick them up he apologizes to the group for accidentally pulling.
1) Knowledge
Knowledge leads to skill and without it someone can never become a skilled player. A good player has a knowledge of their role and what it can do. A good paladin or shaman healer will get to the azshara fight and say, I got interrupts knowing they both 1) have that ability and 2) it will make the fight a lot easier for everyone else.
There are countless shaman and paladin healers out there that are skilled. They are amazing healers really but they do not even know that they have an interrupt. Couple that with the fact they do not even realize that them interrupting will make the fight a lot easier for the group and all their skill means nothing, because they are a bad player.
Knowing the abilities you have even when you do not use them often, or at all, shows someone is a good player that knows their role.
Knowing a fight from all aspects even if you only play it from one shows that the person is a good player that can see the big picture.
Knowledge is power. It is so true.
People often confuse the term good player and skilled player. They often think they mean the same thing but they do not. A good player and a skilled player are two completely different things. You can have a good player that plays badly and you can have someone that is skilled that is not a good player.
The key is that being a good player is about the person and being a skilled player is about the practice.
Anyone can become a skilled player. You do not need to be a good player to be skilled, you just need to practice enough to be skilled. Skill is a learned ability. Skill is pressing the right keys at the right time. That can be taught. Anything that can be taught can be learned by anyone, good player or not.
The abilities of a good player says something about the person and most things a good player does can not be taught. Someone that can adapt to things (5) on the fly, someone that has a good demeanor (4), someone that is willing to take one for the team (3), someone that takes responsibility for their actions (2) and someone that has a natural thirst for knowledge (1) says something about the person and their personality in real life.
In the end, it is a lot easier for a bad player to become a skilled player than it would be for them to become a good player.
So the next time you see someone doing 90K DPS that does not mean they are a good player and the next time to see someone doing 12K that does not mean they are a bad player. Yes, first impressions are hard to shake and numbers are our first impression but remember, a good player doing 12K can learn to become a skilled player doing 90K but a skill player doing 90K that happens to be a bad player will most likely never be a good player because it is their personality that makes them a bad player.
Being a good player is about the person, not the skill level.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Healers and Females: Is There a Connection?
The breakfast topic over at WoW Insider yesterday asked if all females healed. It got me thinking a little bit about it and it occurred to me that the topic was missing something. It isn't really a case of if all females have healed like the article questioned but the idea of healers and females having a natural connection to begin with.
I can only speak for myself of course but looking back on my own personal character creation it seems to show a connection. My first ever druid, priest, paladin and shaman where all females. My first ever of the other six classes where all males.
If you will notice, the only four female characters I created to start with are the four classes that can heal. I believe it to be a coincidence because of how those characters where created. I did not make them female because they where healers, it just happened.
My druid was only a female because the name I wanted for my male druid was taken so I added the letter a to the end of the name and changed the sex to female. My first paladin was made as a joke after watching the fifth element and thinking that I should make a ret paladin that looked like her. My priest was made for my girlfriend at the time to play. The shaman was the only one of the four that I actually made a female because I wanted to.
In the same vein the shaman, druid and paladin where not healers until they reached max level. Only the priest was a healer from the start.
So it is not like it was a conscious decision that the only four classes that could heal where the only four original female characters I had. That doesn't mean that somewhere in the back of my head it all didn't seem to make sense.
Looking at my guild I can pick out 9 normal healers we have. Of the 9 normal healers we have five are female players and four are male players. However, it should be noted that the five female players that play healers in the guild are all healers as their main spec. Of the four males players that play healers all but one are healers as an offspec.
There is more to it too. Just as three of the four male players that play healers play them as a secondary thing, three of the four have their characters as female characters.
The more you look around the more it seems like there is a connection between females and healing, a lot more than people would like to admit or would even believe. Of course I have a reason why I believe this is true. Actually I've got three.
Florence Nightingale
The woman that is basically responsible for the entire nursing profession plays a role here. A large role even. It is part of who we are. When we think nurse he think female. That is why when a man is a nurse he is called a male nurse and not just a nurse. Because nurses are believed to be female. Nurses are the ones that care for people when they are in the hospital. Healers are the ones that care for us when we are getting beat on by the big baddies. I know, it might sound far fetched but somewhere in the back of our minds we connect healers with nurses and nurses with females.
Mother
Everyone knows the saying about how a mothers kiss can cure anything. Skin your knee and what does mom do? Kiss it and make it all better. It does not end with the mothering from just a mother standpoint. Every guy has had their girlfriend say "do you want me to kiss it and make it all better" if they hurt themselves. It is the mothering nature of females for the most part. It is their built in by nature coding that makes them the ones that care for those around them. The mothering, if you will.
Multitasking
Face it guys, women own us here. Women are just better at multitasking. It is a widely believed statement that women are better at handling multiple tasks at once and recent studies all seem to back up that belief. When it comes to game play there is no role that requires more ability to adapt than the role of healing. Being damage is not a constant it has to be handled as it comes in which means you need to make decisions and look at various things at once and decide the order to handle them. That is multitasking. No other role in the game requires so much multitasking to get the job done and women are just flat out better at that.
So while we all seem to fall into the women are healers stereotype argument and some people even get offended by it I present to you the fact that most stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. Maybe there is more to it all, more then any of us think about. The connection between healers and females goes a lot deeper then just guys being chauvinistic pigs and the people that do get offended by people that connect the two need to realize that.
Whether it be about women being the ones that offer comfort (nursing) or being able to cure it all with care and attention (mother) or just flat out being able to handle the role better (multitasking) it is true that over all it is more likely to see women as healers than men.
I can only speak for myself of course but looking back on my own personal character creation it seems to show a connection. My first ever druid, priest, paladin and shaman where all females. My first ever of the other six classes where all males.
If you will notice, the only four female characters I created to start with are the four classes that can heal. I believe it to be a coincidence because of how those characters where created. I did not make them female because they where healers, it just happened.
My druid was only a female because the name I wanted for my male druid was taken so I added the letter a to the end of the name and changed the sex to female. My first paladin was made as a joke after watching the fifth element and thinking that I should make a ret paladin that looked like her. My priest was made for my girlfriend at the time to play. The shaman was the only one of the four that I actually made a female because I wanted to.
In the same vein the shaman, druid and paladin where not healers until they reached max level. Only the priest was a healer from the start.
So it is not like it was a conscious decision that the only four classes that could heal where the only four original female characters I had. That doesn't mean that somewhere in the back of my head it all didn't seem to make sense.
Looking at my guild I can pick out 9 normal healers we have. Of the 9 normal healers we have five are female players and four are male players. However, it should be noted that the five female players that play healers in the guild are all healers as their main spec. Of the four males players that play healers all but one are healers as an offspec.
There is more to it too. Just as three of the four male players that play healers play them as a secondary thing, three of the four have their characters as female characters.
The more you look around the more it seems like there is a connection between females and healing, a lot more than people would like to admit or would even believe. Of course I have a reason why I believe this is true. Actually I've got three.
Florence Nightingale
The woman that is basically responsible for the entire nursing profession plays a role here. A large role even. It is part of who we are. When we think nurse he think female. That is why when a man is a nurse he is called a male nurse and not just a nurse. Because nurses are believed to be female. Nurses are the ones that care for people when they are in the hospital. Healers are the ones that care for us when we are getting beat on by the big baddies. I know, it might sound far fetched but somewhere in the back of our minds we connect healers with nurses and nurses with females.
Mother
Everyone knows the saying about how a mothers kiss can cure anything. Skin your knee and what does mom do? Kiss it and make it all better. It does not end with the mothering from just a mother standpoint. Every guy has had their girlfriend say "do you want me to kiss it and make it all better" if they hurt themselves. It is the mothering nature of females for the most part. It is their built in by nature coding that makes them the ones that care for those around them. The mothering, if you will.
Multitasking
Face it guys, women own us here. Women are just better at multitasking. It is a widely believed statement that women are better at handling multiple tasks at once and recent studies all seem to back up that belief. When it comes to game play there is no role that requires more ability to adapt than the role of healing. Being damage is not a constant it has to be handled as it comes in which means you need to make decisions and look at various things at once and decide the order to handle them. That is multitasking. No other role in the game requires so much multitasking to get the job done and women are just flat out better at that.
So while we all seem to fall into the women are healers stereotype argument and some people even get offended by it I present to you the fact that most stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. Maybe there is more to it all, more then any of us think about. The connection between healers and females goes a lot deeper then just guys being chauvinistic pigs and the people that do get offended by people that connect the two need to realize that.
Whether it be about women being the ones that offer comfort (nursing) or being able to cure it all with care and attention (mother) or just flat out being able to handle the role better (multitasking) it is true that over all it is more likely to see women as healers than men.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Monday Random Thoughts
- I think I have finally figured out what is the worst part of the LFR, for me at least.
- I raid for fun.
- LFR is not fun.
- LFR is for loot only.
- The loot distribution is horrible.
- So if it is not fun and the people that deserve the loot can't get it, what use does it actually have?
- Did it on my priest during the week. I've had the three piece set forever and can't get a chest or hands.
- I bought the offset valor pieces for the time being but wait, patiently, to get the pieces I need.
- My priest is an alt raider so does not get in a DS run often, but that does not mean I can not do my best to keep it reasonably geared should it be needed.
- Ball boss, healing meters end looking like this.
- Me, 28K HPS 6M healing. The paladin, the 2 shaman and the other 2 priests combined, 6.3M healing, 22K HPS.
- Those are only estimates being I do not remember the exact numbers but the fact remains. I did more healing then all the other healers combined.
- Yes, combined I beat 5 other healers in HPS and almost beat them in healing itself.
- Priest token for hands dropped.
- The priest that did 2,700 HPS wins them.
- Sorry but it needs to be said, broken system is broken.
- Don't give me that random is random BS.
- There needs to be a minimum requirement for people doing their job and being allowed to roll.
- There needs to be a minimum expected based on the gear level of the person that is there.
- They can make the minimum really low, extremely low.
- And I am sure that minimum would mean a healer with at least 372 item level would need to do more then 2700 HPS even if it was set extremely low.
- At least the paladin and one of the shaman picked it up for the next boss.
- Because the DPS kept letting all three slimes hit the boss and there was no way in hell I could have solo healed that one too. Not in a million years.
- We three healed that one.
- Heroic version LFR.
- I must say for as annoying as it was to be with such a huge group of failures, that was a little exciting.
- Both tanks kept dying.
- I could not keep them up alone.
- Oddly enough, a mage ended up tanking the last 20% and I kept the mage up no problem.
- Why is a mage easier to keep alive than a tank?
- Only in the LFR folks, only in the LFR.
- The priest did really rock it this time however, got up to 6K HPS.
- I am willing to bet it was just him keeping himself alive however.
- I like the LFR loot idea I have seen thrown around.
- If someone beats all 8 bosses they get to choose 1 item that would have dropped.
- At least that way I would get at least 1 item a week.
- 12 weeks in a row my hunter did not even have something to roll on.
- Can someone say broken again?
- It is not possible for 12 weeks, 8 bosses per week, usually at least 4 hunters per raid, for not one piece of gear drop that a hunter could roll on.
- I can accept random but the odds of a streak like that have to be roughly the same as getting struck by lightning, twice, after getting bitten by a shark, all in the same day.
- Then when I finally did have something to roll on a hunter that just autoshot the whole fight wins it.
- My hunter has three pieces of the set. All 397.
- The way the game is I am going to need to get the 4th as a 397 as well because there is no way I am going to win it in LFR.
- I am just not bad enough.
- I really need to learn to step up my playing bad.
- Because I really fail at playing bad.
- I am getting to that point again where no matter how I try the game is not appealing to me any more.
- Time for another update.
- For me it seems like once every 3 months would be the perfect update schedule.
- We need new content faster.
- 3 months seems to be when I really start to get bored, big time.
- If the game where better to begin with and things like the LFR loot system where not so horrible I could get more game play life out of it.
- I have a bunch of 85s that have never stepped into the LFR.
- And I have no intention of doing it with them either.
- It is bad enough I complain about characters I use not getting loot.
- I don't want to have to complain about alts I am gearing up just for something to do also.
- If I have no chance at winning something then there is no need to do it.
- LFR is for loot, without loot, it is useless.
- I raid for fun, LFR is not raiding.
- Anyone that thinks that LFR is raiding has never raided.
- Simple as that.
- Maybe I should just give in and become one of the bad players.
- Maybe I should start going into the LFR on my warlock.
- I am sure I can really suck on that character.
- One problem, I would feel bad taking loot I don't deserve.
- I would probably trade it to someone that could actually use it.
- The healer doing 2700 HPS can't actually use the hands, they do not know how to play their class so any benefit they get from it will not be used to its potential.
- I could have used them. While I am average at best, I am leaps and bounds better then someone doing 2700 HPS in 372+ gear.
- I think the game has something built in that tries to give it to the people it thinks need it the most.
- I think the word need has a different definition for me and the designers.
- I look at the person doing badly and think they need to learn to play. I do not think they need gear.
- I look at a person that is doing at least reasonably well that does not have the gear and think, they need it.
- Look at it from a DPS standpoint, because numbers are easier to crunch for DPS.
- If a piece of gear will increase the DPS of "Class A" by 1000 who do you think needs it more of these two people.
- Both have the exact same gear. Same gems. Same enchants. A maximum potential of 28000.
- One is doing 24000 and one is doing 13000.
- Which one needs it more?
- The game says the 13000 "Class A" needs it more because he is doing less.
- I say the 24000 "Class A" needs it more because they will get the most out of it.
- This is where the design philosophy of helping people in the game with gear fails.
- People put to much emphasis on gear and not nearly enough on skill.
- Gear can not fix someone with no skill.
- Once blizzard starts making it so people like the 13000 "Class A" can not get the gear because they can not pass a minimum ability check the loot system will be 1000 times better.
- A nice pop up that tells the "Class A" that they are ineligible to roll on the item because they were not even capable of doing 50% of what the potential for their current gear is would be nice.
- Something like, learn to use the gear you have already before you worry about getting any more.
- If I have one wish for MoP it would be that the game starts going back to basics.
- Put more emphasis on skill and less on gear.
- Having gear go up by 2 or 4 per main stat each tier would help with stat inflation also.
- And it sure as hell would help with skill making a much larger difference.
- Heck, screw skill mattering more, screw annoying loot rolls, screw everything.
- Just release content faster and people would always have something to do instead of dwell on everything that is wrong.
- And trust me, there is a lot wrong.
- Have a great day.
- I raid for fun.
- LFR is not fun.
- LFR is for loot only.
- The loot distribution is horrible.
- So if it is not fun and the people that deserve the loot can't get it, what use does it actually have?
- Did it on my priest during the week. I've had the three piece set forever and can't get a chest or hands.
- I bought the offset valor pieces for the time being but wait, patiently, to get the pieces I need.
- My priest is an alt raider so does not get in a DS run often, but that does not mean I can not do my best to keep it reasonably geared should it be needed.
- Ball boss, healing meters end looking like this.
- Me, 28K HPS 6M healing. The paladin, the 2 shaman and the other 2 priests combined, 6.3M healing, 22K HPS.
- Those are only estimates being I do not remember the exact numbers but the fact remains. I did more healing then all the other healers combined.
- Yes, combined I beat 5 other healers in HPS and almost beat them in healing itself.
- Priest token for hands dropped.
- The priest that did 2,700 HPS wins them.
- Sorry but it needs to be said, broken system is broken.
- Don't give me that random is random BS.
- There needs to be a minimum requirement for people doing their job and being allowed to roll.
- There needs to be a minimum expected based on the gear level of the person that is there.
- They can make the minimum really low, extremely low.
- And I am sure that minimum would mean a healer with at least 372 item level would need to do more then 2700 HPS even if it was set extremely low.
- At least the paladin and one of the shaman picked it up for the next boss.
- Because the DPS kept letting all three slimes hit the boss and there was no way in hell I could have solo healed that one too. Not in a million years.
- We three healed that one.
- Heroic version LFR.
- I must say for as annoying as it was to be with such a huge group of failures, that was a little exciting.
- Both tanks kept dying.
- I could not keep them up alone.
- Oddly enough, a mage ended up tanking the last 20% and I kept the mage up no problem.
- Why is a mage easier to keep alive than a tank?
- Only in the LFR folks, only in the LFR.
- The priest did really rock it this time however, got up to 6K HPS.
- I am willing to bet it was just him keeping himself alive however.
- I like the LFR loot idea I have seen thrown around.
- If someone beats all 8 bosses they get to choose 1 item that would have dropped.
- At least that way I would get at least 1 item a week.
- 12 weeks in a row my hunter did not even have something to roll on.
- Can someone say broken again?
- It is not possible for 12 weeks, 8 bosses per week, usually at least 4 hunters per raid, for not one piece of gear drop that a hunter could roll on.
- I can accept random but the odds of a streak like that have to be roughly the same as getting struck by lightning, twice, after getting bitten by a shark, all in the same day.
- Then when I finally did have something to roll on a hunter that just autoshot the whole fight wins it.
- My hunter has three pieces of the set. All 397.
- The way the game is I am going to need to get the 4th as a 397 as well because there is no way I am going to win it in LFR.
- I am just not bad enough.
- I really need to learn to step up my playing bad.
- Because I really fail at playing bad.
- I am getting to that point again where no matter how I try the game is not appealing to me any more.
- Time for another update.
- For me it seems like once every 3 months would be the perfect update schedule.
- We need new content faster.
- 3 months seems to be when I really start to get bored, big time.
- If the game where better to begin with and things like the LFR loot system where not so horrible I could get more game play life out of it.
- I have a bunch of 85s that have never stepped into the LFR.
- And I have no intention of doing it with them either.
- It is bad enough I complain about characters I use not getting loot.
- I don't want to have to complain about alts I am gearing up just for something to do also.
- If I have no chance at winning something then there is no need to do it.
- LFR is for loot, without loot, it is useless.
- I raid for fun, LFR is not raiding.
- Anyone that thinks that LFR is raiding has never raided.
- Simple as that.
- Maybe I should just give in and become one of the bad players.
- Maybe I should start going into the LFR on my warlock.
- I am sure I can really suck on that character.
- One problem, I would feel bad taking loot I don't deserve.
- I would probably trade it to someone that could actually use it.
- The healer doing 2700 HPS can't actually use the hands, they do not know how to play their class so any benefit they get from it will not be used to its potential.
- I could have used them. While I am average at best, I am leaps and bounds better then someone doing 2700 HPS in 372+ gear.
- I think the game has something built in that tries to give it to the people it thinks need it the most.
- I think the word need has a different definition for me and the designers.
- I look at the person doing badly and think they need to learn to play. I do not think they need gear.
- I look at a person that is doing at least reasonably well that does not have the gear and think, they need it.
- Look at it from a DPS standpoint, because numbers are easier to crunch for DPS.
- If a piece of gear will increase the DPS of "Class A" by 1000 who do you think needs it more of these two people.
- Both have the exact same gear. Same gems. Same enchants. A maximum potential of 28000.
- One is doing 24000 and one is doing 13000.
- Which one needs it more?
- The game says the 13000 "Class A" needs it more because he is doing less.
- I say the 24000 "Class A" needs it more because they will get the most out of it.
- This is where the design philosophy of helping people in the game with gear fails.
- People put to much emphasis on gear and not nearly enough on skill.
- Gear can not fix someone with no skill.
- Once blizzard starts making it so people like the 13000 "Class A" can not get the gear because they can not pass a minimum ability check the loot system will be 1000 times better.
- A nice pop up that tells the "Class A" that they are ineligible to roll on the item because they were not even capable of doing 50% of what the potential for their current gear is would be nice.
- Something like, learn to use the gear you have already before you worry about getting any more.
- If I have one wish for MoP it would be that the game starts going back to basics.
- Put more emphasis on skill and less on gear.
- Having gear go up by 2 or 4 per main stat each tier would help with stat inflation also.
- And it sure as hell would help with skill making a much larger difference.
- Heck, screw skill mattering more, screw annoying loot rolls, screw everything.
- Just release content faster and people would always have something to do instead of dwell on everything that is wrong.
- And trust me, there is a lot wrong.
- Have a great day.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Cataclysm Hits: II: Reforging
This is the second in a series of posts about the things that cataclysm hit the nail on the head with this expansion. Many people may like or dislike certain things that where done in cataclysm but sometimes some of the best changes go basically unnoticed or taken for granted. It is always easier to overlook the good things.
Past posts in this series:
Miscues: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX
Cataclysm Hits: I: Spec Selection
Secondary stats, I own you.
Reforging has made a world of difference in the game. So much so that people do not even realize how much it has done for them. It is the perfect example of something that was so good that it gets over looked. Sure, people notice it, they like it, but do they really realize how much easier it has made the game for them? How much of a huge update to the game this really was?
At face value what reforging looked like to people was just a way to turn one secondary stat into another and really if that is all it was it would still be an amazing addition to the game. If you are a class that heavily favors critical strike and really has no need for mastery you would change that mastery on the item over to critical strike and be done with it.
To most people, that is all reforging is and in a way, yes, that is all it is. You change one stat for another. To people that look deeper into things, reforging is so much more and that is why it is, in my opinion, the biggest hit in cataclysm.
Reforging made upgrading gear a lot easier. How so one might ask? If you were that aforementioned class that favored critical strike you might be hit with a perplexing option when upgrading if you where wearing an item that had 200+ critical strike and something dropped that had a little more of your main stat but no critical strike. It would become something that you would need to research and hope someone did the theory crafting on it already.
Would the small increase of your primary stat be worth the huge loss in critical? Now, with reforging, upgrading is a lot easier. Main stats are main stats for a reason. They are usually huge for any class, so a little bit of a main stat combined with the ability to reforge whichever is highest in the secondary stats on the item into critical strike, 40% at least, made this an easy decision. 99 out of 100 times the higher item is the better item because of the ability to reforge. For people that do not want to spend time researching reforging took a lot of the guess work out of the game.
Another huge advantage that reforging gave people is the ability to customize the plateaus that one might need to be at. You need 8% hit or 960 haste to be at an ideal number, reforge into it. Gone are the days of having to work your butt off for a certain drop because it is a better fit for the numbers you need.
You got a great new pair of bracers with no hit on them but there is another pair out there that has the same main stats plus hit that would make sure you were still at hit cap so farm away it is. This even goes back to the making upgrades easier like I mentioned before. No more, "those bracers would be a great upgrade if they had hit", now it is "those bracers are a great upgrade for me after I reforge all that mastery off them into hit".
The fine tuning of getting those those numbers are made much easier with reforging as well. Need that 960 haste number? Reforging makes it that you can get there as close as possible. The old way to playing around with gems and enchants and hoping to get as close to it as possible are gone. No need for that. Just reforge and get it.
This brings us to another high end concept of reforging to get it that most people do not even consider. If you are looking for that 960 haste number and are sitting at 920 but the only thing you can reforge haste into will give you 80 putting you at 1000 you used can just say, cool, I am over 960 or you can look at reforging haste off of items. Yes, reforging what you need off of items can really help and many people, unless they use a site or addon, never notice that. Reforge the haste off of something else into your next best secondary stat and get closer to 960. Lets say one item has 100 haste, reforge 40 off of it and you are at 960 exactly and you have 40 more of another secondary stats. Remember, 40 more of another secondary stat even if it is your worse secondary stat, is better then wasted itemization elsewhere sometimes, even more so if it is hit because anything over cap on hit is 100% useless.
But wait, there is more. Reforging made our lives easier in other ways as well. Gems and enchants can cost a lot. Anyone that tried to work out the numbers perfectly before reforging was introduced will tell you how often they needed to change two or three or even four gems or enchants when they got one piece upgraded so they could reach hit cap again or that special haste plateau. Now it is more like you gem and enchant for the best stats for you and anything else, you reforge for. No more do you need to change your gems and your enchants on your bracers, hands and boots just because you got a new set of pants that didn't have the ideal stats on them.
It just generally made choosing gear easier. It made choosing gems easier. It made choosing enchants easier. It made writing guides to help people know what to choose easier. With reforging there is now a best gem and best enchant. It is no longer "this is the best gem if you are already hit capped but if you need hit use this one." It just made the game simpler, at least for those smart enough to use it.
With all the additions to the game that have made it easier, for lack of a better word, like flying or instant groups with dungeon finder or what have you nothing has ever made the game easier then reforging without anyone ever complaining about it. People complain about flying in the old world. People complain that dungeon finder ruins community. People complain about many things that made the game easier and they very well might have a valid reason to complain about it. Reforging made the game easier and no one ever complains about it. Maybe the, "I wish it changed it all instead of just 40%", but that is about it. More a wish or a desire, not really a complaint. No one would ever get their panties in a bunch over reforging and lets face it, anything that makes the game easier people will complain about. Everything... except reforging.
So if you are playing cataclysm, like it or not is irrelevant, and ever felt like this seems kind of cool but then dismissed it because it is just something that seems like it has always been there, maybe it is one of the cataclysm hits, like how reforging has made your life so much easier.
Past posts in this series:
Miscues: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX
Cataclysm Hits: I: Spec Selection
Secondary stats, I own you.
Reforging has made a world of difference in the game. So much so that people do not even realize how much it has done for them. It is the perfect example of something that was so good that it gets over looked. Sure, people notice it, they like it, but do they really realize how much easier it has made the game for them? How much of a huge update to the game this really was?
At face value what reforging looked like to people was just a way to turn one secondary stat into another and really if that is all it was it would still be an amazing addition to the game. If you are a class that heavily favors critical strike and really has no need for mastery you would change that mastery on the item over to critical strike and be done with it.
To most people, that is all reforging is and in a way, yes, that is all it is. You change one stat for another. To people that look deeper into things, reforging is so much more and that is why it is, in my opinion, the biggest hit in cataclysm.
Reforging made upgrading gear a lot easier. How so one might ask? If you were that aforementioned class that favored critical strike you might be hit with a perplexing option when upgrading if you where wearing an item that had 200+ critical strike and something dropped that had a little more of your main stat but no critical strike. It would become something that you would need to research and hope someone did the theory crafting on it already.
Would the small increase of your primary stat be worth the huge loss in critical? Now, with reforging, upgrading is a lot easier. Main stats are main stats for a reason. They are usually huge for any class, so a little bit of a main stat combined with the ability to reforge whichever is highest in the secondary stats on the item into critical strike, 40% at least, made this an easy decision. 99 out of 100 times the higher item is the better item because of the ability to reforge. For people that do not want to spend time researching reforging took a lot of the guess work out of the game.
Another huge advantage that reforging gave people is the ability to customize the plateaus that one might need to be at. You need 8% hit or 960 haste to be at an ideal number, reforge into it. Gone are the days of having to work your butt off for a certain drop because it is a better fit for the numbers you need.
You got a great new pair of bracers with no hit on them but there is another pair out there that has the same main stats plus hit that would make sure you were still at hit cap so farm away it is. This even goes back to the making upgrades easier like I mentioned before. No more, "those bracers would be a great upgrade if they had hit", now it is "those bracers are a great upgrade for me after I reforge all that mastery off them into hit".
The fine tuning of getting those those numbers are made much easier with reforging as well. Need that 960 haste number? Reforging makes it that you can get there as close as possible. The old way to playing around with gems and enchants and hoping to get as close to it as possible are gone. No need for that. Just reforge and get it.
This brings us to another high end concept of reforging to get it that most people do not even consider. If you are looking for that 960 haste number and are sitting at 920 but the only thing you can reforge haste into will give you 80 putting you at 1000 you used can just say, cool, I am over 960 or you can look at reforging haste off of items. Yes, reforging what you need off of items can really help and many people, unless they use a site or addon, never notice that. Reforge the haste off of something else into your next best secondary stat and get closer to 960. Lets say one item has 100 haste, reforge 40 off of it and you are at 960 exactly and you have 40 more of another secondary stats. Remember, 40 more of another secondary stat even if it is your worse secondary stat, is better then wasted itemization elsewhere sometimes, even more so if it is hit because anything over cap on hit is 100% useless.
But wait, there is more. Reforging made our lives easier in other ways as well. Gems and enchants can cost a lot. Anyone that tried to work out the numbers perfectly before reforging was introduced will tell you how often they needed to change two or three or even four gems or enchants when they got one piece upgraded so they could reach hit cap again or that special haste plateau. Now it is more like you gem and enchant for the best stats for you and anything else, you reforge for. No more do you need to change your gems and your enchants on your bracers, hands and boots just because you got a new set of pants that didn't have the ideal stats on them.
It just generally made choosing gear easier. It made choosing gems easier. It made choosing enchants easier. It made writing guides to help people know what to choose easier. With reforging there is now a best gem and best enchant. It is no longer "this is the best gem if you are already hit capped but if you need hit use this one." It just made the game simpler, at least for those smart enough to use it.
With all the additions to the game that have made it easier, for lack of a better word, like flying or instant groups with dungeon finder or what have you nothing has ever made the game easier then reforging without anyone ever complaining about it. People complain about flying in the old world. People complain that dungeon finder ruins community. People complain about many things that made the game easier and they very well might have a valid reason to complain about it. Reforging made the game easier and no one ever complains about it. Maybe the, "I wish it changed it all instead of just 40%", but that is about it. More a wish or a desire, not really a complaint. No one would ever get their panties in a bunch over reforging and lets face it, anything that makes the game easier people will complain about. Everything... except reforging.
So if you are playing cataclysm, like it or not is irrelevant, and ever felt like this seems kind of cool but then dismissed it because it is just something that seems like it has always been there, maybe it is one of the cataclysm hits, like how reforging has made your life so much easier.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Cataclysm Hits : I: Selecting Spec
This is the first in a series of posts about the things that cataclysm hit the nail on the head with this expansion. Many people may like or dislike certain things that where done in cataclysm but sometimes some of the best changes go basically unnoticed or taken for granted. It is always easier to overlook the good things.
Past posts in this series:
Miscues: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX
Spec Specialization:
When cataclysm was released we were introduced to entirely new skill trees. Some disliked the new version and some loved the new version, but what is not often talked about with the new version was how it starts. Like the smaller skill trees or not, when you get to level 10 and make the decision to choose a spec it now meant something, something a little more meaningful than ever before.
If you are an older player and leveled a new character this expansion you might know exactly what I am talking about. When you are on your brand new priest and decide that you want to level discipline at level 10 and you get penance, you now really feel like a healer. When you are on your brand new paladin and you decide that you want to level protection and get avengers shield you really feel like a tank.
Those little bonus things that define our specs that are given to us as a freebie starter skills when we choose our spec really makes a difference. As someone that has leveled countless new characters and already had every class as 85 to begin with I could still embrace the feeling that choosing a spec really made me feel like this is what I am now.
While the fact might remain true that some spec specialization bonuses just feel lackluster and don't really feel like the ones I mentioned earlier, like intimidation in the beast master spec, the concept of giving a class spec defining ability at level 10 was a major plus that came with this expansion.
With the exception of intimidation and a very few like that, those abilities we get when we choose a spec now are always things you will want to use on every cooldown and that is what makes them so special, that is what makes them define our spec and that is what makes them such a huge thing to have at level 10 now.
If people, like myself, that had experience in the game felt like "now I am a tank" when I got my avengers shield you have to think what that must have felt like to a new player. Getting this class spec defining ability right off the bat, it being strong and useful from the moment you get it, and it being something you will end up using every cooldown from the second you get it until you defeat the last boss of the game it fantastic. Again, with the exception of a few misses like intimidation notwithstanding.
It is just a spec, it is just an ability we always had, but it is now at a time and a place where it means so much more to the player and the characters development into being what it is meant to be. It is something that most people might take for granted. It is something that people would say they always had so whats the big deal. But it is something that changed, at least in the way we where given it and at the time we where given it. It is often over looked because it is something that was always there but in my opinion it was a great change for the game.
So if you are playing cataclysm, like it or not is irrelevant, and ever felt like this seems kind of cool but then dismissed it because it is just something that seems like it has always been there, maybe it is one of the cataclysm hits, like giving you your spec defining ability at level 10.
Past posts in this series:
Miscues: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX
Spec Specialization:
When cataclysm was released we were introduced to entirely new skill trees. Some disliked the new version and some loved the new version, but what is not often talked about with the new version was how it starts. Like the smaller skill trees or not, when you get to level 10 and make the decision to choose a spec it now meant something, something a little more meaningful than ever before.
If you are an older player and leveled a new character this expansion you might know exactly what I am talking about. When you are on your brand new priest and decide that you want to level discipline at level 10 and you get penance, you now really feel like a healer. When you are on your brand new paladin and you decide that you want to level protection and get avengers shield you really feel like a tank.
Those little bonus things that define our specs that are given to us as a freebie starter skills when we choose our spec really makes a difference. As someone that has leveled countless new characters and already had every class as 85 to begin with I could still embrace the feeling that choosing a spec really made me feel like this is what I am now.
While the fact might remain true that some spec specialization bonuses just feel lackluster and don't really feel like the ones I mentioned earlier, like intimidation in the beast master spec, the concept of giving a class spec defining ability at level 10 was a major plus that came with this expansion.
With the exception of intimidation and a very few like that, those abilities we get when we choose a spec now are always things you will want to use on every cooldown and that is what makes them so special, that is what makes them define our spec and that is what makes them such a huge thing to have at level 10 now.
If people, like myself, that had experience in the game felt like "now I am a tank" when I got my avengers shield you have to think what that must have felt like to a new player. Getting this class spec defining ability right off the bat, it being strong and useful from the moment you get it, and it being something you will end up using every cooldown from the second you get it until you defeat the last boss of the game it fantastic. Again, with the exception of a few misses like intimidation notwithstanding.
It is just a spec, it is just an ability we always had, but it is now at a time and a place where it means so much more to the player and the characters development into being what it is meant to be. It is something that most people might take for granted. It is something that people would say they always had so whats the big deal. But it is something that changed, at least in the way we where given it and at the time we where given it. It is often over looked because it is something that was always there but in my opinion it was a great change for the game.
So if you are playing cataclysm, like it or not is irrelevant, and ever felt like this seems kind of cool but then dismissed it because it is just something that seems like it has always been there, maybe it is one of the cataclysm hits, like giving you your spec defining ability at level 10.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
"Soon we'll fly together again..."
There is a lot of speculation about what this means floating around today yet no one seems to notice the completely obvious. They are talking about giving a mount to people that use the scroll of resurrection (to one or both I am not sure however).
All the facts add up to that with 100% certainty. I am not sure why people are debating, but some of the things people have suggested they think it means are really good. It sure makes for some interesting reading. People have some vivid imaginations.
All the facts add up to that with 100% certainty. I am not sure why people are debating, but some of the things people have suggested they think it means are really good. It sure makes for some interesting reading. People have some vivid imaginations.
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