Step one: Buy gear off the AH.
Step two: Enchant the gear.
Step three: Run an instance, watch upgrades rain down upon you.
Unbreakable Guardian -> Gavel of Peroth'arn
Drape of Inimitable Fate -> Cloak of the Royal Protector
Witch-Hunter's Harvester -> Pit Lord's Destroyer
That doesn't count the chest I'd bought off the AH last winter and also upgraded, but maybe it should, since in all technicality, it was an AH item that was replaced after only a few runs. There were also ret shoulders and various healing items, which almost made me consider trying holy, until I remembered that healing is the hardest role in the game.
So sadly, I am no longer wielding a scythe. And my reforging is all wrong now. But I can finally get into LFR! Should I bother to read up on any fights?
Friday, February 10, 2012
Being too low keeps you out of content, so does too high
I wish I'd discovered BC heroics before my mage hit 71. At that point, it just seems like cheating. So now what? She could level up more, but what's the point? I'm not going to hang out waiting on DPS queues at 85. She hit 72 and that's when it fully sunk in that it was all downhill from here. Ooh, I could make a LK twink! lol
I made a DK, considering using that for a new attempt at a BC character. It's nice that it starts so late and is in Outland so quickly. But it's a DK. That means no set for it, though there is a generic blue strength plate set: Doomplate Battlegear. The blue warrior set is usable by other classes; my paladin used a couple pieces, which despite the loss of the weak 4-piece bonus, were still better. But beyond that, it's a DK. That just seems wrong.
So I made a warrior. And then I realized that it's a long, long way to Outland. I'm almost thinking heirlooms might be worth it. On the other hand, the leveling curve is already screwed up and I'd probably run zones I haven't done before, so I don't want to ruin that even more. I'd rather enjoy the journey and have it be a little slower.
I'm not alone in this. Tesh seems to have run into this problem as well, though not quite the way I have.
I made a DK, considering using that for a new attempt at a BC character. It's nice that it starts so late and is in Outland so quickly. But it's a DK. That means no set for it, though there is a generic blue strength plate set: Doomplate Battlegear. The blue warrior set is usable by other classes; my paladin used a couple pieces, which despite the loss of the weak 4-piece bonus, were still better. But beyond that, it's a DK. That just seems wrong.
So I made a warrior. And then I realized that it's a long, long way to Outland. I'm almost thinking heirlooms might be worth it. On the other hand, the leveling curve is already screwed up and I'd probably run zones I haven't done before, so I don't want to ruin that even more. I'd rather enjoy the journey and have it be a little slower.
I'm not alone in this. Tesh seems to have run into this problem as well, though not quite the way I have.
I'm sometimes saddened that I outlevel the ability to LFD queue for dungeons as I go about doing my Explorer thing. I also want to Explore the dungeons, and the system doesn't want me to go back to them when I'm overleveled.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
I am consistent in my values
Some people flip flop and waver. Mr. Colbert said about our greatest president, "He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday." Well, today is Wednesday and on the metaphorical Monday I made some statements of value. I don't have them with me because the media likes to suppress anything good, but trust me, they were said and they are exactly what I am saying now.
Appearance matters more than actual functionality.
I've believed this my entire life. I grew up using a Mac. More recently, but not actually recently, once upon a time, warlocks had a choice to make. They could get some robes. They could get a trinket which would, in some situation, prove to be quite useful, possibly saving them from having to utter those words which once would make a raid leader rage and lead to an entire MC raid zoning out to go hunt spiders in the Searing Gorge because someone had not farmed enough souls. Note that the item has been changed. It used to summon a voidwalker without needing a soul shard, so you could use it to summon a voidwalker, then walk far enough away and it would desummon, granting you a soul shard. Note that back then, the range to walk was approximately ten miles, uphill, and if you walked downhill on the way back, you'd lose the shard. That last sentence was a complete lie, which makes it notable for the fact that I actually pointed that out.
Finally there was a weapon. It wasn't a great and powerful weapon. It was okay. You might use it for a little while, but not a very long while. Given that players often went to Sunken Temple fairly late in the game, it could soon be replaced by staves from various other instances, such as Scholomance (not the one I mentioned the other day)and BRD, and wasn't even a huge upgrade from an earlier staff from Zul'Farrak. I suppose these days we'd call it a mediocre upgrade. But it had one very important thing going for it: It's a fucking scythe available to a class that takes souls. How can anyone not see that this is the most appropriate choice?
Sadly, some did not. But me, I took a stand. I didn't just tell people what to do, I did it myself, thereby giving me greater legitimacy when I continued to tell them what to do. History, by which I mean a mix of luck and decisions over which I had absolutely no influence, has backed me up. The trinket was nerfed while the staff, thanks to Cataclysm destroying all that was good in the world, and transmogrification allowing us to pretend it was still around, is now unobtainable precisely when it has the opportunity to shine again.
My values have held, to this very day. Some people might say, "Hey, that's not a paladin weapon! It has agility! It's for hunters!" And I say to you this: "It's a fucking scythe!" I put my money where my values are:
Witch-Hunter's Harvester
Don't I look marvelous?
I like my new dress. But I think the BC recolored Judgement might fit the color of the scythe better.
I like how they need to add the qualifier "raid" to "most prestigious title", because otherwise they'd be all like "the Insane? Bloodsail Admiral? BOTH AT THE SAME TIME!?"
Appearance matters more than actual functionality.
I've believed this my entire life. I grew up using a Mac. More recently, but not actually recently, once upon a time, warlocks had a choice to make. They could get some robes. They could get a trinket which would, in some situation, prove to be quite useful, possibly saving them from having to utter those words which once would make a raid leader rage and lead to an entire MC raid zoning out to go hunt spiders in the Searing Gorge because someone had not farmed enough souls. Note that the item has been changed. It used to summon a voidwalker without needing a soul shard, so you could use it to summon a voidwalker, then walk far enough away and it would desummon, granting you a soul shard. Note that back then, the range to walk was approximately ten miles, uphill, and if you walked downhill on the way back, you'd lose the shard. That last sentence was a complete lie, which makes it notable for the fact that I actually pointed that out.
Finally there was a weapon. It wasn't a great and powerful weapon. It was okay. You might use it for a little while, but not a very long while. Given that players often went to Sunken Temple fairly late in the game, it could soon be replaced by staves from various other instances, such as Scholomance (not the one I mentioned the other day)and BRD, and wasn't even a huge upgrade from an earlier staff from Zul'Farrak. I suppose these days we'd call it a mediocre upgrade. But it had one very important thing going for it: It's a fucking scythe available to a class that takes souls. How can anyone not see that this is the most appropriate choice?
Sadly, some did not. But me, I took a stand. I didn't just tell people what to do, I did it myself, thereby giving me greater legitimacy when I continued to tell them what to do. History, by which I mean a mix of luck and decisions over which I had absolutely no influence, has backed me up. The trinket was nerfed while the staff, thanks to Cataclysm destroying all that was good in the world, and transmogrification allowing us to pretend it was still around, is now unobtainable precisely when it has the opportunity to shine again.
My values have held, to this very day. Some people might say, "Hey, that's not a paladin weapon! It has agility! It's for hunters!" And I say to you this: "It's a fucking scythe!" I put my money where my values are:
Witch-Hunter's Harvester
Don't I look marvelous?
I like my new dress. But I think the BC recolored Judgement might fit the color of the scythe better.
I like how they need to add the qualifier "raid" to "most prestigious title", because otherwise they'd be all like "the Insane? Bloodsail Admiral? BOTH AT THE SAME TIME!?"
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Zul'Gurub is not an abomination
I had low hopes for the remade Zuls. I expected watered-down shadows of the awesome they once were. And certainly they are not the same. But they are similar and a good sort of different.
The plethora of mini-bosses was odd. More like glorified trash mobs. But whatever. These days you gotta have the flare.
Venoxis was nothing like what I remember, but was a fun new fight anyway. At least the theme was somewhat consistent with the venom, though it lacked snakes.
Broodlord was a fun fight, which I think stayed somewhat true to the original, though obviously not exactly the same. I hadn't looked it up before, so when I started seeing people getting one-shot, I was worried. I didn't realize that the fight was designed with the expectation that people would be dying a lot. Thankfully, my habit of attacking the raptor was still correct.
The Edge of Madness was... confusing at first. I didn't know how it started, figuring it would just be a random boss. I didn't want it to just be yet another boss, but I figured that these days, that's how things are. Thankfully, I was wrong. Apparently it requires some moderate level of archaeology to activate, and a lot of rummaging around to find the artifacts to activate. I thought that was cool. The boss we got was a crazy troll rogue, who I found silly in a good way.
Zanzil was sorta neat, but I think the cauldrons are a little too far apart.
Panther boss was strange. Ignore her, kill cats, then kill her? She's already tormented and the first thing we do is kill her cats? Killing a crazy cat caricature's cats is cruel.
Jindo was a pretty awesome fight, once we figured out what we were doing. Well, most of us... A warlock in the group was very skilled at never being anywhere near the chains, so we had four or five failed body slams, dragging on the fight, and then the healer died right before we were able to get the last chain.
I got a big mace. I turned it into Might of Menethil. In the end I walked out with a new healing hat, a new DPS hat, a big mace, a treatise on strategy.
I think I might go again.
The plethora of mini-bosses was odd. More like glorified trash mobs. But whatever. These days you gotta have the flare.
Venoxis was nothing like what I remember, but was a fun new fight anyway. At least the theme was somewhat consistent with the venom, though it lacked snakes.
Broodlord was a fun fight, which I think stayed somewhat true to the original, though obviously not exactly the same. I hadn't looked it up before, so when I started seeing people getting one-shot, I was worried. I didn't realize that the fight was designed with the expectation that people would be dying a lot. Thankfully, my habit of attacking the raptor was still correct.
The Edge of Madness was... confusing at first. I didn't know how it started, figuring it would just be a random boss. I didn't want it to just be yet another boss, but I figured that these days, that's how things are. Thankfully, I was wrong. Apparently it requires some moderate level of archaeology to activate, and a lot of rummaging around to find the artifacts to activate. I thought that was cool. The boss we got was a crazy troll rogue, who I found silly in a good way.
Zanzil was sorta neat, but I think the cauldrons are a little too far apart.
Panther boss was strange. Ignore her, kill cats, then kill her? She's already tormented and the first thing we do is kill her cats? Killing a crazy cat caricature's cats is cruel.
Jindo was a pretty awesome fight, once we figured out what we were doing. Well, most of us... A warlock in the group was very skilled at never being anywhere near the chains, so we had four or five failed body slams, dragging on the fight, and then the healer died right before we were able to get the last chain.
I got a big mace. I turned it into Might of Menethil. In the end I walked out with a new healing hat, a new DPS hat, a big mace, a treatise on strategy.
I think I might go again.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Mages need buffs
By buffs I of course mean giving them a tanking and healing tree. Frost seems like a good choice for tanking, particularly after they screwed up and made blood the DK tanking tree. BLOOD IS STUPID! Fact. Fire has a cauterization theme going for it, but I doubt that would get past committee.
While we're suggesting ideas, why not an acupuncture tree for rogues? Maybe a "shadow healing" tree for priests? I'm just saying, priest sounds like a healing class, so maybe it needs more healing options. But if I really had to pick, I'd go with arcane. It just feels right. Frost and ice are hard and slow enemies, fire blows shit up, and arcane manipulates things. For example, Slow could slow down the rate at which you die. Arcane Blast would be an excellent quick heal. Arcane Missiles are really just Penance with a different shininess.
This is obviously a pretty major change to a class that has been around, and been more or less what is currently is, for a long time. And it would create all sorts of problems such as figuring out how to make a cloth tank without needing a whole new brand of itemization. Maybe spirit could give armor, thereby ensuring that the tanks get into fights with the healers for gear, which is something WoW has been lacking ever since paladins stopped using spell power swords.
While we're suggesting ideas, why not an acupuncture tree for rogues? Maybe a "shadow healing" tree for priests? I'm just saying, priest sounds like a healing class, so maybe it needs more healing options. But if I really had to pick, I'd go with arcane. It just feels right. Frost and ice are hard and slow enemies, fire blows shit up, and arcane manipulates things. For example, Slow could slow down the rate at which you die. Arcane Blast would be an excellent quick heal. Arcane Missiles are really just Penance with a different shininess.
This is obviously a pretty major change to a class that has been around, and been more or less what is currently is, for a long time. And it would create all sorts of problems such as figuring out how to make a cloth tank without needing a whole new brand of itemization. Maybe spirit could give armor, thereby ensuring that the tanks get into fights with the healers for gear, which is something WoW has been lacking ever since paladins stopped using spell power swords.
Monday, February 6, 2012
People who want to be where they are
Why would a level 70 be in a BC heroic? Or a 74? Yesterday I decided to try something different on my mage and queued for a BC random heroic.
Surprisingly, I not only found a group, but found it pretty quickly. But that wasn't the best part. The people were.
I didn't run into a single rude or "go go go" type person. No one complained about gear except for one brief mention of a tank's gear, who had a grey belt, but no drama come from it.
We had mistakes and bad pulls. People died. But no one whined or raged. Why?
They were all people who wanted to be where they were. They could get more xp and better loot in LK instances. BC randoms don't even give points, just a bit of gold and bonus xp. They would only go there if they actually wanted to run BC heroics. Maybe it was for achievements or to see what they hadn't seen before. Maybe it was nostalgia. Maybe it was for something other than the same three or four LK randoms. Whatever it was, the basic fact remained that they were not in places for some quick external reward, but for something in the instance itself.
I'd never tried this before. I didn't even know it was possible. And that may be the problem. People will run lower-reward, higher-fun (subjective, of course) content, if they know it is possible.
Maybe the most important thing I learned from this experience is that even with the anonymous cross-server grouping, putting like-minded people in the same place is possible and yields a better experience. But I already knew this!
This was the mage who, well here's the start of an earlier post
I think I might do this again on my next mage (she's the one I talk about earlier in the post). I don't like Seahorse Land much, so if Hyjal doesn't tick, that could be my plan: run BC randoms until they run out, then run LK heroics until they run out.
Surprisingly, I not only found a group, but found it pretty quickly. But that wasn't the best part. The people were.
I didn't run into a single rude or "go go go" type person. No one complained about gear except for one brief mention of a tank's gear, who had a grey belt, but no drama come from it.
We had mistakes and bad pulls. People died. But no one whined or raged. Why?
They were all people who wanted to be where they were. They could get more xp and better loot in LK instances. BC randoms don't even give points, just a bit of gold and bonus xp. They would only go there if they actually wanted to run BC heroics. Maybe it was for achievements or to see what they hadn't seen before. Maybe it was nostalgia. Maybe it was for something other than the same three or four LK randoms. Whatever it was, the basic fact remained that they were not in places for some quick external reward, but for something in the instance itself.
I'd never tried this before. I didn't even know it was possible. And that may be the problem. People will run lower-reward, higher-fun (subjective, of course) content, if they know it is possible.
Maybe the most important thing I learned from this experience is that even with the anonymous cross-server grouping, putting like-minded people in the same place is possible and yields a better experience. But I already knew this!
My mage is now level 63* and has never been to Outland... He's found a handful of groups, most of which were populated by players above level 58. That means that players who could be running Outland for bags of useful items, higher xp, and short queues, are instead specifically queuing for older instances. There are players specifically choosing older content with fewer tangible rewards (in a virtual sense)... Players are specifically choosing to run these instances and are exhibiting unusually high levels of patience for pulling speed and tolerance for wiping... I have to give some credit to the cross-server group-making tool. Without it I'm not sure there would be the population needed to form groups at all.
This was the mage who, well here's the start of an earlier post
In the past I've complained about people skipping content with the obsolescence of every raid that isn't ICC and heirlooms to speed through leveling. I decided to go a step further and do that to an entire expansion of content.
My mage is now level 68. He has never been to Outland.
I think I might do this again on my next mage (she's the one I talk about earlier in the post). I don't like Seahorse Land much, so if Hyjal doesn't tick, that could be my plan: run BC randoms until they run out, then run LK heroics until they run out.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Pie
Imagine a spherical pie in a vacuum.
Obviously we want a bigger pie. So, we call on the powers of the market. And it responds.
*fanfare*
*fall of feudalism*
*more fanfare*
Hi, now as you can see, we've brought in some more pie pans. These are the foundation of future pie growth. Without these pans you won't have any more pie. Obviously for that we deserve some pie.
I'm going to just take a few pieces over to this pan here and... okay. Good, now I have some pie.
Hey, check this out! We've got these new pans, with pie! It worked! Well, for that brilliance, I need some pie!
Mmm...
This is some great pie.
What's your problem?
Obviously we want a bigger pie. So, we call on the powers of the market. And it responds.
*fanfare*
*fall of feudalism*
*more fanfare*
Hi, now as you can see, we've brought in some more pie pans. These are the foundation of future pie growth. Without these pans you won't have any more pie. Obviously for that we deserve some pie.
I'm going to just take a few pieces over to this pan here and... okay. Good, now I have some pie.
Hey, check this out! We've got these new pans, with pie! It worked! Well, for that brilliance, I need some pie!
Mmm...
This is some great pie.
What's your problem?
bbad healer
This run started off with me on the tank's side. There had been a warrior who, as I saw it, ran in and aggroed way too many mobs, then died because the tank didn't grab them soon enough. He tried to kick the tank, I voted against, and then he left (or maybe was kicked; I'd have voted for it). So poor tank, the guy has to deal with idiots like that. Well, he then proceeded to be terribly slow at getting any aggro at all on mobs that weren't his primary target. But whatever, new tanks can have that problem, particularly DKs, who are start late.
Then this happened.
Full story: He runs all over the place rounding up the back half of that room. At some point during it I lose internet for a couple minutes. I come back dead, not a surprise given what he'd done and the lack of my DPS (not bragging, just that if you do a big pull, it doesn't help to lose a major source of AoE ten seconds in). So I release and run back. When I said my first two lines, neither the tank nor the healer had released.
I wasn't sure why he'd want to kick the healer. Did he not heal well? Maybe not, but let's face it, expecting to survive that pull was asking a lot (it's not as if these were a bunch of ICC-geared people in a random heroic when we'd not even need the healer, or the DPS).
I explained that it was standard practice and basic politeness to run back if all the rezers were dead, that it is faster. The hunter (his guild member) called me a fag, because well, duh.
We moved along and the tank continued to try to kick with "bbad healer" as the reason. Considering we'd not wiped without he or the warrior acted stupidly, I just wasn't seeing the case for it. Maybe he was bad. I just wasn't seeing any tangible evidence for it. I did die on the second boss pair, but that's what happens when the warrior one is raised and the tank ignores it, regardless of what the healer does. Mages just are not good at tanking dual-wielding bosses.
Well on we went and somehow, the vote to kick passed right before the last boss. I can't figure out why the other DK went along with it. And that's the bullshit we have these days. Anonymous assholes fucking over anonymous nobodies who did nothing wrong, with no means for retribution or feedback. Oh sure, you could go to their server and yell at them, but I'm imagining that ending with a harassment report, and not in the correct direction.
On the upside, fire is really fun in instances!
Then this happened.
Full story: He runs all over the place rounding up the back half of that room. At some point during it I lose internet for a couple minutes. I come back dead, not a surprise given what he'd done and the lack of my DPS (not bragging, just that if you do a big pull, it doesn't help to lose a major source of AoE ten seconds in). So I release and run back. When I said my first two lines, neither the tank nor the healer had released.
I wasn't sure why he'd want to kick the healer. Did he not heal well? Maybe not, but let's face it, expecting to survive that pull was asking a lot (it's not as if these were a bunch of ICC-geared people in a random heroic when we'd not even need the healer, or the DPS).
I explained that it was standard practice and basic politeness to run back if all the rezers were dead, that it is faster. The hunter (his guild member) called me a fag, because well, duh.
We moved along and the tank continued to try to kick with "bbad healer" as the reason. Considering we'd not wiped without he or the warrior acted stupidly, I just wasn't seeing the case for it. Maybe he was bad. I just wasn't seeing any tangible evidence for it. I did die on the second boss pair, but that's what happens when the warrior one is raised and the tank ignores it, regardless of what the healer does. Mages just are not good at tanking dual-wielding bosses.
Well on we went and somehow, the vote to kick passed right before the last boss. I can't figure out why the other DK went along with it. And that's the bullshit we have these days. Anonymous assholes fucking over anonymous nobodies who did nothing wrong, with no means for retribution or feedback. Oh sure, you could go to their server and yell at them, but I'm imagining that ending with a harassment report, and not in the correct direction.
On the upside, fire is really fun in instances!
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