I... Don't Wanna Work.. I Just Wanna Bang on the Blame All Day...

Another Friday post for me... as things slow down here at work, I have a few "free" bits of time to expound on the aetheric, and wax poetic about the pointless. there are fewer people here to notice me wasting time, and even fewer folks reading the blogs in the next couple days.



So be it.



Last night was a tad lazy... I ran the LFG "daily" to get my Frost badges, ran most of the Argent tourney dailies (I never joust anymore) and did a couple other random ones. I got a handful of Champion Seals and a couple hundred gold, so it was reasonably productive, even if it were a tad boring.



I was in no mood to grouch my way to more Triumph badges, so I had to think a bit for stuff to do, so I could procrastinate on going to bed. The only thing that came readily to mind was to look into getting another 2 tabards for the "wear 10 different tabards" achievement. (I currently have 8) I am not sure which ones I *do* have, but I', certain I have all the following:



Ebon Blade
Wyrmrest
Guild
Kurenai
Kirin Tor
Sporregar
Tabard of the Hand
Tabard of the Explorer

(thanks to having somewhat recent upload of my bank & bags at rpgoutfitter.com I was able to find 3 I had forgotten about)


I do NOT have:


Honor Hold
Aldor
Argent Dawn (if there is one)
Undercity
Cenarion XYZ (circle, expedition or any of them)
any other rep tabards
any tabards that cost Champion Seals

Me being the Outlands n00b I am, I had wondered if I could just buy the rep tabards and then run more Northrend Heroics to get exalted.

Um, nope.

Turns out that Outlands Tabards are the REWARD (or being able to buy them) for becoming exalted. Alas, I am only (barely) honored with the Aldor and Honor Hold, so nothing easy.

*sigh*

WAIT!!! I know you get rep with Honor Hold for all kills in Hellfire Heroics! I'm a moderately geared 80, this should be a breeze! Easy Peazy!

*Flies off to Ramparts and enters the Heroic*


I walked towards the room with the 3 groups of mobs, and at the end of the entrance hall, there are 2 guard mobs sitting like reputation gifts.

I pull one, Repent (crowd control stun - "CC") the other, and burn them both down. WTF?!?!? My health is way below half?!?!? I've got 14k armor and 21k health. WTF?!?!?!?

Oh, and I received 15 reputation points each.

hrm....

I pull the group of 3 mobs farthest to the right, stun one, and just get to work. Kill the first, hammer *BUBBLE!* the whelp and finally -WAIT!!!!!!

*mana up and heal*

and kill the third.

?

Holy shit, for "only" being level 70 elites, these are some nasty effing mo-fos!

I switch to my tank gear, but stay in Retribution spec.

I move on to the next group of 3.

The extra armor & health helps mitigate the damage I take, but since I now take a LOT longer to kill them, and it is basically a wash as far as how close to being killed I am.

I rinse & repeat this until I clear that room at the base of the stairs. I got maybe 200 rep points with Honor Hold and a 1.5 gold repair bill.

Yay.

So I go back to Honor Hold to get the small repair and sell off the little bit of loot I grabbed. While there I see that "Stadium is under attack by the Horde!" (the other 2 places had just been captured as well)

I'm not in the mood to PvP, but I AM in the mood to be a pest (ie, not flag myself or attack, but stand there, simply being a geared 80 alliance toon, and try to be as intimidating as I can.

I fly over and there's a Horde v Alilance 1 on 1 battle going on. One of them is a DK, and one is (maybe) a Paladin. With things running around like they are, I have no clue which is which.

I land,

hit [tab] to select the Hordie

then

-WHAM

-BAM

-SPLAT!

There's a dead horde (unreleased) and an Ally DK . I feel good about helping the guy out.

Until he starts corpse humping/Teabagging the Hordie.

Ugh.

I wave to the Horde corpse and bow (it still hasn't released) and head back over to Honor Hold to ponder my next waste of time/diversion.

Upon arrival, there's some Horde over there killing all the NPCs. Looks like it's 2 level 80s. A Priest and a Rogue. I *think* I kill the Rogue and the Priest bugs out. (actually it was a Pally) because there was a non-flagged Priest sitting there.

How do I know there was a Pally? Because he returned a bit later (with the Rogue) and came after me. I had hurt the Rogue and nearly killed the Pally when I died. The remaining 60s & 70s chased them off.

I respawned at the grave yard, took the 5-10 steps to my corpse and came back. By this time a couple other 80s had arrived (one was the alt of the DK I had helped)

The Hordies had cleared the area so I logged.

No, there's no real point to this post... just sorta rambling... though I *could* bring up a couple semi-relevant points about it all:

The Outlands (Hellfire in particular) 5 mans are where Kattastrophe & I 2-manned several dungeons. this is where I learned to use my CC, use corners ("LoS" - line of sight) to force casters to get within my melee range, and to have to sit and plan out attacks.

I've read a lot from folks that were doing end game content back in the "BC" (Burning Crusade)days, and all of them are melancholy about the challenge those dungeons represented. Mainly because crowd control was an integral part of the game, and was some actual utility that DPS players could bring to the table. (other than simple DPS) Now, sadly, most dungeons are a DPS Tank-n-Spank race to kill the boss before the next enrage. DPS just needs to bring the hurt.

Which (per Big Bear Butt) is another possible source of DPS hazing...

I wanna go home... only another 3-4 hours left here at work. Hope you guys have a good weekend!

:P

Horse With no Name Fits my Last Post With no Name

doh

So I started a slightly ranty post last night. I couldn't come up with a name, and given the slightly negative nature of the post, I wanted to sleep on it.

Unfortunately, I hit "Publish" and not "Save". I didn't realize this until I got up this morning. Since it's still a work in progress, I just put it back into my saved folder, and unpublished it.

Well, in the grand scheme of things, my retracting it first thing this morning wouldn't be a big deal, at least in theory.

Except for the automated blog readers out there.

They captured it and funneled it to the folks that have them set up.

...doh...

So, in the interest of keeping things the way that some folks will see it, I put it back up, exactly as written/posted last night.

I still definitely feel the way I did when I wrote it. However, my only real hesitation in keeping it up was the rather ranty, pointy, ouchy and negative tone in it. There are enough rant blogs out there, and I try not to be that way TOO much.

But there you go, and there it is.

Sorry for any comfusion the post, unpost and re-post may cause, especialy to the folks that visit here via wowheadlines or their readers.

There's a "mene" going round the blogs right now. No, not a "meme". A meme is generally benign, possibly strange, and often quirky. (to me, anyways)

No this is a "mene", pronounced "mean".

As in you can't possibly MENE that, or that's rather a rather MENE spirited point of view.

And no, I won't link the originating post. I don't care to give it whatever ephemeral, mental kudos you get for getting linked/mentioned. I'm sure you probably know which one I'm referring to, or will quickly recognize it once I get beyond this introductory spewing of frumpitude.

I am referring to the belief by some that certain types of toons are worth more than others. Because they do more. And the last type of players are just grist for the mill.

As a DPS player that has to switch (mid fight) to healing to help out in some fights, and taunt mobs off the healers and other squishies due to lacking in others, I not-so-respectfully request you insert this into the most uncomfortable orifice you can conceive: (I'll even start it for you)

Maybe it's because I'm still rather new to the game, but I am absolutely STUNNED at the depth of self righteous, antagonistic, selfish and unbelievably arrogant BULLSHIT I read and see whilest perusing the online culture of WoW. This isn't the only topic I've seen that raises my hackles, but it's the most recent, and for me, the most incendiary.

I don't care if all someone does is farm titanium only to sell it to the closest vendor for 12 silver, or struggle to hit the "1" key so they can auto attack in a heroic. Nobody "deserves" more than anyone else. We ALL pay the monthly fees. We all play, I would guess, for the same reason: to enjoy ourselves.

If your entertainment requires you to receive extra special colored pixels, above and beyond what other players get, in order to feel oh-so-special and get enjoyment out of the game, please take a moment to evaluate why you play. I'm not joking, and I'm not (honestly) trying to be flippant or mean with this particular comment. I think we all know that WoW can foster some unhealthy habits and attitudes in some of the player base, and it can manifest itself in a multitude of unpleasant ways.

This is a game.

I completely understand getting personally vested in it. Hell, we ALL are to some level, or we wouldn't play for very long, let alone take the time to bother blogging about it.

That being said...

As has been pointed out in multiple places across the internet, Blizzard (hallowed be thy name) has made it a fundamental mechanic that the game revolves around the holy trinity of player types: tank, DPS, healer. The game simply isn't playable at any serious level of you don't have all three types.

Yes, as a Ret Paladin, I can heal a good bit and if all the other players were geared enough, I might be able to heal a low level heroic. Or with some good healing and some good gear, I could probably half-assed "tank" the easiest heroics. (or at least the regular dungeons)

It would require EVERYONE to be way over geared (myself included) and it would annoy everyone involved, but it is probably doable. (if not by me, then by better players)

Does that flexibility make Pallies, or Druids or any other hybrid class any more valuable? Absolutely not.

We all play, in theory (as I mentioned above) to have fun. The moment the words "should be compensated more" cross your lips, the word "job" pops rapidly into my mind. That is kinda the opposite of fun, at least in my book.

And unless someone can prove me wrong, I think it's an easy, and fair assumption that good, bad & mediocre players occupy the various roles in equal proportions. Therefore, there are an equal ratio of skilled (and unskilled) players in all the roles. So I don't think it's reasonable to claim special priority based on skill/ability: all groups have the same range & average.

Tanks love to bitch about bad healers and bad DPS, Healers love to bitch about bad tanks and bad DPS, and so on. No group is above others here, and all are possible targets for ire.

A bad player in any role can wipe a group. (I'm mainly talking 5 mans here) A good player in any role can also save a group. I am far from good and *I* have done plenty to save runs.

There's a "rule of thumb" that is often bandied about it WoW, and most people seem to think it has value:

If the tank dies, it's the healer's fault.
If the healer dies, it's the tank's fault.
If the DPS dies, it's their own fault.

This would seem to imply that a tank/healer duo form their own team within a team, and that, in general, DPS are on their own. So, in effect, heal/tank duos have a special team mate watching their back, while the DPS are "solo" within the team.

Yes, in practice, healers help the DPS and the tanks help the DPS, and the DPS helps both the others. (at least in theory) BUT, it sure does highlight a distinct culture within the game, don't ya think?

After all, we each chose our roles for our own reasons; they fit our preference, personality, present an interesting challenge, etc.

If you want to get a bit petty about it, one could argue that tanks & healers already *do* get more loot (at least if they try) This is simply because they can probably run an entire instance in the time it takes for me to even FIND a group, and they can then run an entire SECOND instance while I am running my first.

So, they can get twice as much loot/badges as a run-of-the-mill DPS pugger in the same amount of time.

Lastly, I put in a pretty good amount of time learning my class, reading, and trying to do my best. I spend as much time as the next "average" player (maybe more) in this pursuit.

I find it blatantly offensive that some folks feel their time (for a game) is somehow "worth" more than mine. The phrase "culture of entitlement" comes to mind...

I wish I could be more subtle, more witty and *maybe* a bit more obscure in my rants, but, that's not who I am. Ah well, I guess I'm another yahoo on the net with a chip on my shoulder and spleen in my words.

Later...

Changes: Heroics for Me, Then & Now

Running Heroics might have made me a tad lazy. At least since I've gotten better geared.

"Way back in the day" (all of 2-3 weeks ago), I would make sure I had a stack of Mighty Strength Potions, Strength food (Dragonfin Filet), and Strength VIII scrolls (or VII if I was being cheap)

I would blow every CD I had during EVERY fight, trying to maximize my DPS. I would bring water/etc to replenish my burned through mana.

I followed Elitist Jerks' method of "doing the retpal rotation", and I would religiously watch my rotation to keep it on the ball. Once I had mostly purples, I made sure I had the best gems & enchants I could get.

I did the absolute most I could.

For maybe 2K DPS, if it worked out well, especially if I was in a lower geared group and had to watch my aggro.

That was then.

Now?

I will eat my strength food (because it's essentially free)

I won't use consecrate (a long ticking AoE) unless it's a boss/miniboss fight.

I won't take a strength potion of any sort.

I won't use a strength scroll of any sort.

I will often take a looong time (5-ish seconds) to actually engage in the fight (dinking around and also waiting for the tank to get max aggro)

I "finger tap" my first 4 spells:

And I pull an average of3-3.3K DPS for the run. On the rare time where I *am* buffed (like after just running a 10 man) I will pull 4-5k pretty easily (especially on groups) and 3.2-3.5K single target.

The problem is that this lends ones' self to getting lazy and/or just not paying attention...

I've noticed that once I start attacking, I will simply keep fighting, even if I start to get aggro. Getting aggro ususally means my target is about dead, so with my plate, abundant health (and a *little* heals) my getting a bit of aggro means nothing. (unless it's a boss, THEN I care - a LOT)

It's not just me: I see tanks doing this all the time, where they just spam attack, don't mark, etc, and run through the instance like a bat outta hell.

The good news is that the runs are usually REALLY fast, and mindless enough that they don't become exhausting.

But they *do* get a bit tedious, and I have to make sure to actually pay attention when I do get into a "real" raid (ok, 10 mans, but still)

This isn't a tragedy, but it does make it hard to keep on my toes...

EDIT - I had finished most of this post before I noticed that Chastity at Righteous Orbs posted a very similar post, however that one had more to do with the other folks in the run...

Reflections of... the Way Halls Could Be

In general, I don't sit around and ponder tactics in fights, especially in Heroics. Other than trying to remember the "run away when this happens, don't attack when this happens, etc," I don't much worry let alone care.

even if there's a sub 1k DPS there ;)

Overall, the heroics are so dang simple, that even at my gear and skill level, they just don't take much thought or preperation. Tank & spank, go hit stuff, and try not to get TOO much aggro. (I believe I have more armor & health than many tanks did when msot heroics were first released)

So, it's a bit of an oddity when I go into a heroic, with decently geared folks, and reasonably intelligent folks, and yet we wipe. Multiple times. (and never finish)

Such was the case of my one (any only) foray thus far into Halls of Reflection.

We wiped 3 times in the first room (the one with the multiple phases) and then we died multiple times trying to out run Arthas. (Here's one thing I figured out that may help some: when you are on that path of ice walls, Traveller's Mammoths can be summoned to repair equipment)

Anyhow, we tried 4 or 5 times, and usually died at the last wall, with one or two mobs left, and Arthas came and ate us.

One time really sticks in my head: we had only one mob left, with low health, when the Lich King rained on our parade. What irks me is not that we came so close and failed, but that another 10,11 or maybe 12 seconds might have bought us enough time.

Say, if I had taunted Arthas, bubbled, and pulled him away. (or maybe bubbled THEN taunted, whichever)

Would the extra (effective) 8-10 extra seconds have given enough time to drop the last mob/wall?

Would Arthas relent, if the wall was droppedonce I had died?

Is Arthas even tauntable like that?

If it did work, would I be able to get credit, emblems and loot (because I know for certain I would die as soon as my bubble dropped) because the group would HAVE to leave my corpse... alone... untended on the icy mountainside... (and/or would I be able to run ack) After all, the survivors would be on the airship or flying boat at that point...

Can a Pally bubble survive Arthas' full attention? (I assume so, for all 12 seconds)

Where is Hoffa's body?

What would YOU do for a Klondike bar?

So many questions, so few answers...

I think our failures were due to us all being "marginally geared" for the instance, with none of us being exceptional players. As a group, I believe we were pulling 7-8k total DPS and the tank could usually keep aggro. The healer may have been a bit of a weak link (we wiped on that first room multiple times until Kattastrophe stopped DPSing and helped heal) However those fights at the walls seem to be mainly an aggro and DPS thing, and I think the DPS was just not sufficient.

Ah well, it was still an interesting fight, and neat in the sense that it was something we HAD to work at, and couldn't just blow through it.

Porcupine Pie and Other Prickly Things

(yes, it's a real song... )

Anyhow, this is a bit of a mea culpa type of post. I know I ranted a wee bit about some others' screw-ups, so here's a bit of a laundry list of goof-ups I've done in heroics/raids...

I've yet to be the cause of a wipe (at least as far as I know), but I've done one or two minor flubs... *cough*or dozens*cough*

How do I commit thee, oh errors of the Ret? Let me count the ways....

- Auto-target a mob in the next group (I don't have to [tab] to attack the next target when one dies - not sure how/why, but there it is. In crazy close fights, it's nice, but not when it "selects" a mob in a group we haven't pulled) It's happened twice that I know of, and no major damage, but it REALLY has the possibility of causing a wipe...

- Targeting a mob I *thought* was marked by the tank, but not. (now that I know that a Skull/etc appears in the target frame, this rarely happens, or at least I know to change really quickly)

- Leave Righteous Fury active: (this is an aggro generating spell, and will often lead to my own death) Usually happens after I am tanking, or "sorta tanking" (equip my tank gear, pull aggro, but still leave DPS spec active - mainly for Threat from Above and similar quests) I doubt my death has ever been the cause of a wipe, but it sure is humbling...

- Have my tank gear equipped - same as leaving Righteous Fury above. The main downside here is "WTF, why is my DPS only 1,300-1,600?!?!?" The good news is that I'm rather difficult to hurt, let alone kill when I do this.

- Leave Crusader Aura (paladin "Pony Go Fast" Aura) active and not something useful like Retribution or Devotion Aura. (more common than I care to admit, but I'm getting better)

- Leave my fishing pole equipped. Fortunately, this almost never happens anymore, because my outfitter add-on automatically switches to my last equipped weapon when I enter combat. Woot for add-ons minimizing the n00b debuff!

- Get lost getting back into instances? Several times...

- Getting killed as I run back through the instance after I died? A few times.

- Falling off a ledge/missing a jump in Nexus? Check.

- Stand in the stupid? er Fire, Void, etc? Um, yeah...

- Get confused in the melee, and not notice the whirlwind? Ahhhh, yeah... that would be me...

- Get confused in the melee, not be able to target anyone, so stand there like a moron for half the fight? Ohhh yeah... that would ALSO be me...

- Not notice the Deadly Boss Mods (DBM) notification that some move, attack, or phase is about to begin? *shuffle uncomfortably* yeahhh, that would also be me... *facepalm*

I'm sure there are a multitude of other ways, but these makes up a "nice" round thirteen stupids, which is enough for now.

And yeah, I am not uber, I am not perfect. I don't pretend to be, and I don't expect anyone else to be... The thing is, be understanding when others make a dumb error. BUT, also try not to ALWAYS be making a mistake. Stupid happens to all of us.

Any egregious errors that YOU'VE made? Any NOT so egregious errors? Any funny ones?

These Boots are Made for Walkin'... and Booting

First off, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!! I know I've been off a bit, but now that I'm back at "work", I have time to blog... ;)

Anyhow....

In a PuG first for me, I got "Das Boot".

Katt & I went in to ToC (heroic) and, well, it was a fail fest. After the first wipe, where one of the mobs took out the Healer, and then the rest of us, the tank says, "I guess I need to taunt".

/facepalm

I was pulling a WHOPPING 2.5 k in DPS, and kept getting aggro.

What was I doing? Attacking the mob that the tank marked.

After a lot of nasty "WTF Pally, you suck, how can you keep pulling aggro when only doing 2.5k?"

I resorted to: "yeah, it highlights how shitty the tank is..."

Mind you, the tank had better gear than me. But, as seems usuall for DK tanks, he couldn't keep aggro. (no, I didn't check if he was Frost or Blood. Or heavens, unHoly)

Also, a couple of the mobs I aggroed were going after me because of my Area of Effect (AoE) abilities like Divine Storm and Consecration. wtf? That's maybe... 500 DPS max? THAT draws aggro?

Did I have my aggro "buff" (Righteous Fury - "RF") on? (I *have* done that before) No, I didn't. Especially since we first wiped, and I would have had to manually put it on.

Was I using my aggro dump (Hand of Salvation - "HoS")? Yep, every time it came off CD.

Was I "throttling back" (ie, not attacking as much)? Yep, especially since the tank (and, when he had aggro, the mob) was running hither and yon, and I can't melee if I'm not right next to it.

2.5k DPS (including AoE) is not much damage OR threat.

Now, I will admit, I screwed up on Paletress, but strangely enough, neither I nor anyone else died on that boss.

The biggest problem was the tank, helaer and one DPS were all guildies...

*boot*


Strangely, in the next PuG I ran (Forge of Souls) I was in a group with a similarly geared tank (a Warrior this time). I pulled a little bit of aggro a couple times, (when the tank would cycle targets) but nothing big, I barely felt it and we had great heals.

We finished FoS, and agreed to continue on to Pit of Saron. To quote the tank as we finished clearing up the last ramp before the gauntlet:

"Best.
PuG.
EVAR."

After the nightmare of the previous group, it made me feel a WHOLE lot better.

Did we make mistakes? Certainly, we all did. And the Krick fight took forever because a couple of us (3 of us, me included) didn't pull back far enough from the Poison Nova. The healer & tank, as a pair, did a FANTASTIC job taking him down from ~20% -> dead all by themselves. (that was an amazing thing to watch)

So yeah, we all made mistakes, but we all got compliments for the good we did, and we all did pretty well. And if a "dummy" was done, polite comments were made about how to avoid it next time.

*snif* Each group was enough to bring tears to your eyes, albeit it for drastically different reasons.

So, dearest PuG tanks, here are a couple polite requests from your local (VERY local - shoulder to shoulder, as it were) melee DPS folks:

1- If you mark it, tank it. I will give you 3-5 seconds to get aggro, and I will keep an eye on Omen (threat meter) but I should be able to maintain 75% attacks (ie, slightly throttling/ easing up) without pulling aggro off that target.

2 - If you didn't mark it (but marked something else) tank it. I will be busy attacking the target you marked. As such, Omen will show me my aggro for THAT target. Not the 3-4 other incidental mobs that my AoE abilities might damage. I will run, bubble, etc as needed, but please at least TRY. My AoE abilities don't generate THAT much threat.

3 - If you can't be bothered to mark (or specifiy in party chat) targets AT ALL, then you better tank THEM ALL. Don't expect me to read your mind. "F" only works if I get lucky and happen to focus on you when you are aiming at your main target, and doesn't help at all if you just rotate/tab.

4 - Give me a hand if YOU drop the ball. I will HAPPILY taunt mobs off the healer to save the group. But please show me the same consideration and try to get that S.O.B. off me. Yes, I have plate, but that only helps so much. Especially since I blew my bubble the LAST time it happened.

5 - If you are a bit new, or maybe less than ideally geared, give a shout-out, or (after the wipe) say something like "I'm having a bit of trouble keeping aggro, can you ease up a bit?" Let's be honest, I know I'm not the best player in the world, and I doubt you are either. And that's 100% AOK. I can't watch everything all the time, and neither can you. But at least give me *some* kind of warning.

6 - I am human. I will make the occasional mistake. As will you. Deal with it, and hopefully be reasonable, polite and respectful. I promise to do the same.

7 - And for some other PuG Tanks - PLEASE... Slow... The... Fuck... Down... Yes, I know you want your emblems ASAP. Yes, I know Divine Plea only gives you 14 seconds, yes I know your rage is dropping (no clue how DK mechanics work - sorry!). HOWEVER, wiping will reset both as well. AND create a nasty repair bill to boot. Don't assume everyone knows the fights. If they have a lot of Blue items (let alone greens) it is quite likely they haven't been here before. Or sometimes people *cough*me*cough* could use a reminder that Poison Nova has a 15 yard radius. Chainpulling trash is OK, but do't do that for the Bosses, or any minibosses.

8 - (this goes out to everyone in PuGs, not just tanks) Please remember this is SUPPOSED to be a GAME. You know, FUN? RELAXING? It can be inherently stressful as it is, without some asshole(s) making it worse.

laters...