tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30016537483905306672024-03-05T11:55:45.038-06:00The Casual RaiderWorld of Warcraft from a casual raider's perspective.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-25919202629865144652011-03-29T08:00:00.001-05:002011-03-29T08:00:10.323-05:00Sims MedievalWell sportsfans it looks like I'm not checking back in to WoW... until Thursday. Continuing with my now wow game suggestions I'd like to submit to you The Sims: Medieval. I got to spend about 3 hours of one-on-one time with this little beauty and so far it hasn't disappointed.<br />
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<strong><u>Graphics</u></strong> - <br />
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The game looks gorgeous. The sims, as always, are very customizable and manage to look unique without looking freakish. The textures used are high quality and really give you a "Lord of the Castle" feel. Environments looks just as good as your castle and surrounding area are nicely detailed. I didn't really see any glaring graphical errors or much in the way of jaggies. It gets a solid <span style="color: #38761d;">Green +</span> rating in the graphics department.<br />
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<strong><u>Gameplay</u></strong> - <br />
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If you like sims games you'll probably love the gameplay. I say probably because while the basics of sim care are still there the house building/architecture aspect of the game is just flat out gone. Social interaction is at the core of the game now. RPG style "classes" have been added and each of these have their own special social interactions. For example your monarch can send people to the stocks while your wizard can do magic stuff. You can tell that care was taken in how each class benefits your kingdom as a whole and fits into the metagame. <br />
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One of the best improvements made was the ditching of most of the desire meters. No longer do you have to watch hygenie, bladder, fun etc. You've got Energy and Hunger. Keep your sim fed and rested and you're good to do most things. Now taking a bath, using the bathroom or participating in other fun activities will give you a temporary focus buff allowing you to be more succesful in your endeavours.<br />
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As I've had limited time to play I haven't been able to fully explore the gameplay but so far there's no free play option. The only time you can interact with your sims is when you're on a quest. You pick a quest while looking at your kingdom and then play as that sim until the quest is complete. While the more focused gameplay can be nice I miss the open ended gameplay of the sims a bit. <br />
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As far as not being able to build your castle goes; It isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I really was bracing myself to hate this game based on the fact that I couldn't create the castle that I wanted to live in. As I got further into the game though I found myself not caring about it as completing quests and managing my chosen sim provided more than enough activity to keep my caffeinated ADD brain occupied. <br />
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With the increase in structure comes a decrease in freedom of play but also a diminishing of what can be a steep learning curve for non-sim players. Ditching some of the micro management aspects of the series could bring some new people into the fold and I think the title is strong enough to keep most sims fans happy.<br />
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While the gameplay may or may not be your bag the interface is simple, the controls intuitive and the tasks offered are varied and just plain fun. In the gameplay department Sims Medieval gets an astounding <span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06;">Hungry Otter</span> rating.<br />
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<strong><u>Verdict</u></strong><br />
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Is it worth playing? Most definetly. Is it worth plopping down 50 of your hard earned bucks? Probably not. It's a good game and fun to play but not a must buy. It doesn't break the mold but it gets a solid overall rating of <span style="color: #cc0000;">Lama Force Epsilon</span> I'd say wait for a steam sale and pick it up then.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-22157053610949252792011-03-24T11:26:00.000-05:002011-03-24T11:26:11.690-05:00WoWless *sadface*Due to some unforseen circumstances I find myself WoWless for the next week or so. Pulling the needle out unexpectedly has sparked some withdrawal but like a jonesing junking I found my methadone. Here's a list of games I'm currently playing to relieve the twitching.<br />
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<strong><u>Two Worlds II</u></strong><br />
Quite possibly the worst name for a game since <a href="http://mightandmagic.wikia.com/wiki/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic:_Quest_for_the_Dragon_Bone_Staff">Heroes of Might and Magic: Quest For The Dragon Bone Staff</a> this game is a mish mash of failure and epic win. The animations and voice acting are just awful and the story seems to have been written by a 12 year old chimpanzee with a penchant for nonsense. I'm not quite to the midway point of this game but I have to say that after the excruciating introduction/tutorial mission the game opened up and is actually full of fun gameplay. While magery is useless the meele and ranged combat are fun after a little experience and the crafting/alchemy is satisfying. There's a heavy emphasis on loot in the game and that just tickles my Diablo Bone. This game is not worth full price but if you manage to catch a sale it's worth a few bucks. <br />
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<u><strong>LoTRO</strong></u><br />
To put it midly I'm a Tolkien nerd. To be more accurate I'm a huge tolkien nerd with the White Tree tattooed on his right arm... seriously. Since LoTRO became free to play it's kept a constant spot on my hard drive. While WoW is still my mmo of choice I believe, in many ways, LoTRO surpasses it. I find the gameplay and the environments richer, the music system entertaining and the crafting delightful (There's nothing like growing fields of beautiful pipeweed.). Since it costs nothing to get started and the free gameplay is enough to keep you entertained for a long time this is worth a look. If you're a Tolkien supernerd it's even more worth it.<br />
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<strong><u>Starcraft II</u></strong><br />
Last night I booted up SCII for the first time in several months and a few WoW friends who have my Real ID saw me. We chatted for a bit then they ditched WoW for a couple of cooperative matches. I've <a href="http://wowcasualraider.blogspot.com/2010/12/rl-vs-wow-grudgematch.html">written before</a> about my SC addiction and man it's still there. Whether it be throwing wave after wave of zerglings into the hungry maw of a protoss player or blasting through the swarm with the help of Thor and a few marines this game never gets old for me. The fact that I can also keep up with my guild via Real ID is another boon. Why can't I quit you Siege Tank?<br />
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<strong><u>Dawn of War II</u></strong><br />
The original space marines. DoWII is such a good strategy game it makes my head hurt. The multiplayer is awesome, the survival battles amazing and the campaigns are just sublime. The combat in multiplayer and in single player feels fast paced and tactically satisfying. The cover mechanics for the game are amazing and each race brings something unique to the table while remaining blanced.<br />
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My wife still hasn't figured out why I'll occasionally yell "Strike from the sky brothers!" while playing it. Explaining that I commanded Sergeant Thaddeus to jump on top of some filthy greenskins and saw them in half with chainswords would just make me sound crazy...<br />
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<u><strong>X-Com</strong></u><br />
I first played this game back in early High School. I found a bundle of all x-com games on Steam a while back for dirt cheap. Spinning up the Skyranger and taking down some sectoids is still as fun as it ever was. This game is so well made that nearly 20 years later it's still fun. If you've never played this gem spend 3 bucks on steam and get it.<br />
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That's about it for the games I've been using to trim down the DTs. Hopefully next week I'll be back in azeroth and raiding again but until then my replacement therapy is doing the trick.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-45672954270873359872011-03-18T08:00:00.001-05:002011-03-18T08:00:01.247-05:00Best WoW Improvments<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">When World of Warcraft launched people were amazed by its easy to learn yet difficult to master approach to mmo gaming. It, as any mmo, wasn’t perfect but throughout the years has been polished to waxy shine. Here are my top 5 World of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Warcraft improvements in no particular order. <br />
<a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong>1.</strong> <strong><u>Random Dungeon Finder</u></strong><br />
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In my opinion this is the single biggest improvement blizzard ever made to WoW. It freed us from the horrors of LFG chat and got tons of people interested in instances and raiding. While no system is perfect (I still want to be able to friend people cross server) the RDF is a close to mmo perfection as a gaming tool can get. Anyone who raided/instanced in Vanilla/BC knows the pain of hanging out in the LFG channel spamming for hours on end hoping to get picked but some group out there and praying that group was competent enough to finish the dungeon. While queues for DPS may still take a while it sure beats the alternative. <br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong>2.</strong> <strong><u>Making Healing Hard</u></strong><br />
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I know many will disagree with me on this but making healing challenging has had a very positive impact. One of the reasons, at least from my perspective, for healer burn out was the way healing was done; Go in, spam heals without regard for mana, and support the people who were doing the actual work. Healing mechanics still need a lot of work but they're getting better. Compared to tanking or dpsing healing just doesn't feel "heroic." Making us actually have to sing, or at least hum, for our supper has gone a long way towards adding more depth to the role of healer. With resource management a much higher priority in cataclysm it's like a mini-game within the game. Having to constantly be doing something makes me look forward to raid healing.<br />
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While this only affects healers directly it has a huge impact on the player base as a whole. If we can throw a little water on the burned out healers it lends to more players who are willing to take on that role. The foundation of a raid is your tanks and healers and this goes a long way to keeping a good solid base.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><u>3. Heroic Dungeons & Badges/Points</u></strong> <br />
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In the beginning raiding was only for the hardest of hardcores. To get enough loot to see the inside of the lowest level raid took weeks or months of mindless dungeon farming. In BC we were given Badges of Justice and it was good. With these beautiful little emblems we could purchase enough gear to become Karazhan ready. The system was a little rough around the edges at first and took some refining (and two more expansions) to get to our current system of justice/valor points.<br />
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The other half of this equation are the heroics themselves. Taking all of the dungeons for the current expansion and making a "heroic" max level tier with appropriate challenge/gear levels was brilliant. Not having to design several max-level dungeons from scratch had to be a boon to the development team allowing them to focus on other issues while presenting players with an adequate challenge and appropriate reward before raids helps keep the game fresh. With the addition of later heroic dungeons it allows new players and players returning to the game from an absence a chance to get current tier raid ready without having to grind through previous content too heavily.<br />
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The fact that these dungeons and point systems make raiding accessible to the majority rather than the minority is, in my opinion, a big reason for WoW's continued dominance of the mmo market.<br />
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<strong><u>4. Vehicles</u></strong><br />
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Love 'em or hate 'em there's no denying that they've had a huge impact on the game. I think they're one of the top improvements as they've been included in Quests/PvP/Raids. They haven't always been implemented perfectly but continue to improve as WoW gets older. I think they added another, albeit small, layer to the gameplay. While I don't believe WoW has every suffered from a lack of depth there are always ways to improve and this was an excellent way to add more variety to the game.<br />
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<u><strong>5. Phasing</strong></u><br />
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The biggest problem I've had with mmos since I started playing Ultima Online way back in the day was the lack of impact your character had on the game world. It didn't matter how many dragons I slew or spaceships I blew up (depending on the mmo) the same mobs would respawn just a few moments later. Phasing is going a long way to fixing this. While it's farm from perfect and, in my opinion, is still in its infancy seeing the impact of my character's actions when I fly to Mount Hyjal or take a trip to the Wrathgate help me immerse myself in the rich world that is Azeroth. I think if given another expansion to mature we'll see great things from phasing. <br />
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What do you feel has had a positive impact on WoW? Do you disagree with any of these listed? Let me know in the comments below! Also tune in next Friday for my Top 5 WoW Shortcomings. </div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-78711764765347196692011-03-16T08:00:00.000-05:002011-03-16T08:00:08.435-05:00What Competes For Your WoW Time?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Most of us have lives on the other side of monitor’s liquid crystal glow. WoW, being an mmo, takes a considerable investment of that most precious non-renewable resource – time. With so much to do in a day and only 16-20 hours (depending on your sleeping habits) to get it done how do you decide what gets your attention?<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Here's a quick view of my average schedule:<br />
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7:00am - Drag my lazy butt out of bed<br />
8:00am - Show up at work - Do IT stuff <br />
5:00pm - Go home - Scream a stupid drivers<br />
5:30pm - Cook dinner for me and the preggo wife<br />
6:30pm - Feed the puppy and take her out side for "potties"<br />
7:00pm - Log on to WoW if conditions permit(raid on wednesday, thursday, sometimes friday)<br />
10:00pm - Log off, maybe catch a shower,<br />
10:30ish - Sleep time<br />
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As you can see I've got about 3 hours per day for WoW if there's nothing more important to do. Spending time with the wife and trying to keep our home from looking like a pigsty all take precedence over WoW. It just goes to show that maximizing time in WoW for me is of utmost importance.</div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-20373804254815056532011-03-14T08:00:00.000-05:002011-03-14T08:00:06.996-05:00Character Investment<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Do you have a backstory for your main? Is your toon anything more to you than a pile of pixels? I’m an old school D&D player, well I actually started with AD&D 2<sup>nd</sup> edition but you can blame that on my age, so I can’t help but make up a backstory for just about every character I play. Here are a few hints to help you flesh out your avatar a little more. </div><a name='more'></a><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">If you haven’t I recommend you take a moment to make up a few character facts about your toon. Here are some questions that can help you get a handle on your avatar.<br />
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<b>Why is your character a <insert class here>?</b><br />
Are you a deceased paladin who lost the light in death but was granted power by the Lich King? Did you from a young age feel the call of the Elements? Are you a pious scholar who fell and embraced the way of the shadow?<br />
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<b>How does your character interact with other people?</b><br />
Are you a righteous crusader being kind to the less fortunate or maybe a power hungry arcanist with dreams of world domination. Do you have friends or pawns?<br />
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<b>Does your avatar have family?</b><br />
Is there anything binding you to Azeroth. Do you have kids? Parents? It goes farther than just familial relationships. Are there human (or orc, dwarf, troll etc...) that give you a stake in the future of Azeroth.<br />
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<b> </b>These are just a few starter questions to get you thinking about your character and how he fits into the world... of warcraft. You don't have to be a hardcore roleplayer or even a roleplayer at all to flesh out your character a bit. With just a little thought you can really enrich your time in WoW. Giving your avatar a little personality helps create an emotional connection that can make your triumphs sweeter and your setbacks more motivational.<br />
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</div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-1797473876273534832011-03-10T08:00:00.001-06:002011-03-10T08:00:12.517-06:00Telluric Currents and You!We had our first raid last week, Magmaw in BWD died a well deserved death, and I went into it with a <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/talent#hhb0bZbZcGbMsdsRGo">7/2/32</a> <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/spell=82988">TC</a> spec, While passive mana regen is a little lower the boost you can get during the exposed head phase of Magmaw is amazing.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Between <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/spell=16190">Mana Tide</a>, <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/spell=16196">Water Shield</a> procs and <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/spell=82988">Telluric Currents</a> mana regen was not a problem in this fight. The spec was tailor made for a TC spec but how does the talent stand up to fights where you don't have a double damage, no raid damage burn phase? While I don't have another boss to compare it to I took TC into a few heroics and it performed admirably. With a heroic geared tank and decently skilled dps you can weave in a Lightning Blot or two into your "rotation." Before my TC spec I was clocking in around 35% mana or lower at the end of most boss fights now I'm ending fights with 50%+ in comparable gear.<br />
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The drawbacks to the spec seem to be that it's somewhat inflexible. If you're constantly casting heals there's no room for a little lightning and regen. The spec is highly dependent on the skill level of your dps and tanks. Despite this drawback I still highly recommend it. I'll be providing a more in-depth analysis in a couple of weeks when I can gather more raid data.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-16770776157189084442011-03-09T08:00:00.000-06:002011-03-09T08:00:12.628-06:00Us vs MagmawCataclysm raiding in my guild began last Wednesday with 10 man BWD and Magmaw on the menu. We spend Wednesday knocking the rust off and stretching the ol' raid muscles then came back in on Thursday for a kill. Hit the break for some musings on 10 man raiding in Cata, Magmaw, and Healing.<br />
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I have a love/hate relationship with ten man raids. I love the fact that they are relatively easy to put together and don't require near the amount of pre-raid planning of 25 mans. I also love the camaraderie fostered in a smaller group. With fewer people everyone has to pull their weight and a sense of trust develops between raiders that can be absent in larger raids. That leads to the downside. 10 raids are not nearly as flexible when it comes to what classes you can bring and your options are severely limited by the fight mechanics. Bring the player not the class works much better as a 25 man design philosophy.<br />
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With the coming of the Cataclysm and my admittedly small amount of raid experience this expansion my initial impression is that 10 man raiding has changed for the better. While I don't like the lockout system I think that it has put 10 man raiding on par with 25 man raiding as far as perception goes. In WotLK 10 man guilds were not seen as equal to 25 man guilds. If this first raid is any indication of the rest of the expansion the 10 mans may be the more "hardcore" of the two options. Boss mechanics are just as unforgiving in the 10 man version and you have a much smaller margin of error.<br />
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I loved the aesthetics of BWD and Magmaw was a fun and challenging fight. My only complaint with the raid, and well WoW raids in general, is the respawning trash. I feel the trash adds to the experience but once defeated shouldn't respawn until the next lockout. Trash respawns add nothing to the experience and serve only to slow down a group who're working on a new boss. We killed it once, don't slow us down while we work on its boss.<br />
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Magmaw itself was fun and I thought the mechanics were well thought out and challenging. We went with 1 tank, 3 healers, and 6 dps. We had two melee for chains and 4 ranged for burning down the parasites. Hunters are amazing in this fight. Our winning set up had the ranged/healers stacking with the melee on the left side of the boss, the tank on the right side of the boss and the hunter placed out at max range. When <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/spell=78006">Pillar of Flame </a>was cast he laid down a frost trap and disengaged back to the group. Ranged burned the adds and we had a LazorChicken typhoon the little @#$%s if they got too close to the group. It took a little practice but we managed to kill the beast.<br />
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Healing wise it was challenging but not difficult. There was a ton of unavoidable raid damage but thanks to the exposed head phase we could regen some mana while aoe heals topped off the raid. We healed it with a Pally, Priest and Shaman. For the raiding shaman <a href="http://www.wowwiki.com/Lifecycle_Waistguard">Lifecycle Waistguard</a> drops... a very nice piece indeed. Unfortunately something for the lesser classes dropped that night but I'm hopeful for this week. I went in with a Telluric Currents spec and friday's post will go a little more in depth on that.<br />
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It feels good to be raiding again. There's nothing like taking 9 buddies to slay a foul worm creature thing. Happy Raiding to all and to all a good fight!Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-71643588330645542482011-03-01T08:59:00.001-06:002011-03-01T08:59:46.518-06:00News From the FrontA few quick things going on and some upcoming topics:<br />
<ul><li>Raids for my guld start tomorrow, I'll finally be able to give some firsthand reports on Cata raids.</li>
<li>I'm trying out a new Telluric Currents spec. I'll let you know how it goes.</li>
<li>I leveld my poor neglected hunter to 81 and worked on his Engi/Skinng</li>
<li>Engineering is awesome... like really awesome... Loot-A-Rang anyone?</li>
<li>The stomach flu is not fun.</li>
</ul>I really have high hopes for the new Telluric currents spec. I'll be trying out a full TC spec and a basic resto spec with TC thrown in. I'll be posting my thoughts on hunters after ol Itad gets to 85. I'm reallying enjoying the leveling so far. Raid reports should be coming in regularly now. We go for Magmaw tomorrow and have high hopes for success.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-18666747401780859582011-02-24T11:38:00.000-06:002011-02-24T11:38:33.230-06:00Shammy Healing LoveWhile dealing with a virulent plague running through my fever wracked body I realized that I hadn't posted about the buffs we got so here goes:<br />
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Hooray! We get some hotfix love. The big news was Purification went from a 10% buff to a 25% buff. That's tasty. The not so big news is that blizz acknowledged that our cooldowns pretty much suck and need some work. So what cooldowns do we need?<br />
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I'd like to see them give Spirit Link a go. It was such a cool beta concept and it might even make up for the lackluster Spirit Walker's Grace. Maybe some kind of healing typhoon would be in order a big "oh snap" button to bathe the raid in watery goodness.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-6462219219292874662011-02-17T08:00:00.000-06:002011-02-17T08:00:15.902-06:00Shammy Heroic Healin'""See this Finger?"<br />
"Sir no Sir"<br />
"That's right! Damn trogg bit it off in Grim Batol!"<br />
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Hit the break for some heroic healing advice from a battle scarred and bloody resto shaman.<br />
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For my fellow Restoshams still grinding the heroics there are a few things you should remember when you walk into some monster's home, help slaughter it and then take its stuff.<br />
<ul><li>Healing Wave sucks but we are stuck with it. It gives back such a small amount of health compared to your fellow party member's massive health pools but it's efficient enough to let us cast it pretty regularly without impacting our mana too much. Be proactive about your healing and try to use HW to boost people when they aren't taking massive damage. </li>
<li>Dress appropriately for your instance. Non-Spirit gear isn't really a good option. Yes some of it can be reforged for spirit but, especially at lower gear levels, you need all the mana regen you can get. Gone are the days when we wore very little MP5(Read Spirit for Cata) and relied on Improved Water Shield for mana regen.</li>
<li>Riptide your butt off. Aside from triggering Improved Water Shield regularly it's a hot that buffs your other heals and can be part of a Riptide, Unleah Elements, Chain Heal combo. </li>
<li>Unleash Elements is your friend. It's on a 15 second cooldown so should be used fairly regularly. It heals and buffs your next heal so don't be shy about spreading it around. That said if you know some spike damage is coming save it.</li>
<li>Don't be afraid to use your mana - Don't get so conservative with your mana that you don't heal people. On trash don't be afraid to blow the whole kit 'n kaboodle to keep your group up. You can drink after the pull. On boss fights you have to be a bit more stingy but finishing a boss fight with no mana is better than wiping with 30% mana. It's a balancing act that you have to learn.</li>
<li>Keep ES on the tank... always. There's no reason a tank should ever be without earth shield. Not only does it heal him every time he takes a hit but it also buffs your healing wave (which can use all the help it can get).</li>
<li>Don't forget SWG - Spirit Walker's Grace. It's kind of a crappy talent for our level 85 big bad mutha talent. That doesn't mean it's useless though. It's great for when you need to avoid the nasty and heal at the same time. It's very situational but can save your bacon if used correctly.</li>
<li>Insta Wolf is awesome - If you didn't fit insta-wolf into your spec you should. You should also have it hotkeyed, on your bar, in a clickable area or whatever you need to do to be able to pop it in a hurry. Erudax in GB springs to mind. Sometimes he spawns that storm in the most inconvienient of places. Ghost wolf gets you there in style.</li>
<li>Mana Tide and Trink often. Mana tide is only on a 3 minute cooldown now so pop it around 60% or so and you might be able to pop it again in the fight. Also your trinkets are on a 2 min cooldown so don't be afraid to use them to keep your mana up.</li>
</ul>Hopefully these hints can help you get through a few more heroics. If you have any you'd like to add please feel free to drop some comments below. Happy Healing!Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-89554937911281354382011-02-14T08:00:00.003-06:002011-02-14T08:17:19.733-06:00Happy Valentines DayAhh valentines day. Valentines day and I have a love/hate relationship. I love to shower my wife with gifts but hate that everyone feels the need to declare a day to be nice to your significant other. Thanks to this blog I can tell the tale of how my wife and I met first in WoW then in RL.<br />
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The first time I met my wife I was being a total jack@$$. BC had just dropped and I had returned to WoW after a long hiatus. My buddy Brian convinced me to move my hunter from the PvP realm Crushridge to the PvE realm Terenas. For those of you who weren't around back in those days if you server transferred to a PvE realm you couldn't transfer back to a PvP realm. After I paid for the transfer and got all situated Brian informed me that he wasn't going to be playing WoW... bastard. He is forgiven though because otherwise I would have never joined the leveling guild where my future wife kept her gnome lock.<br />
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She seriously thought I was twelve the first time I talked to her. She was talking to another guildie about how she wanted BC but couldn't afford the expansion yet so I told her to fight babies for money. I stated that you could make lots of money if you bet on yourself and punched the baby's soft spot. I guess she thought it was funny because we started talking regularly after that.<br />
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Through our correspondence I found that she was living in the DFW area while I was in Lubbock (about a 5 hour drive) but since I went to DFW every so often we decided to go get drinks sometime. It was to be a friendly outing as she was dating someone at the time. Not too long after I had to go to Ft. Worth on business and asked if she wanted to hang out. I turned out that she had just broken up with her boyfriend so we decided to make it a date type thing. <br />
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We went to dinner at Reunion Tower in Dallas and I faced my fear of heights to sit up in the rotating glass ball of doom. After we were seated and started talking I almost forget we were suspended in the air surrounded by glass. It was the best first date I've had and my only regret is not kissing her that first night.<br />
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The rest is a story for another time.<br />
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Happy Valentines Day My Dear - I love you!Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-2967038552460892762011-02-12T08:00:00.001-06:002011-02-12T08:00:01.242-06:00Patch 4.0.6 and the Resto ShamanSome things changed for us in this last patch so here's a quick breakdown of what affects us and why it matters.<br />
<a name='more'></a>There are notes that have been omitted. I only included those that directly affect restoration shamans. For the full patch notes check <a href="http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/">here</a> for the full patch notes.<br />
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<ul><li><strong>Chain Heal's effectiveness has been increased by approximately 10%</strong>. - <span style="color: #073763;">Much needed! Chain heal, one of our signature moves, was sitting around collecting dust. </span></li>
<li><strong>Healing Rain now has a 40-yard range, up from 30, to be consistent with other shaman heals.</strong> - <span style="color: #073763;">It's nice but not omgwtfbbq awesome.</span></li>
<li><strong>Spiritwalker's Grace duration has been increased to 15 seconds, up from 10. - </strong><span style="color: #073763;">A lackluster talent made a little better.<strong> </strong>SWG is too situational and an extra 5 seconds doesn't make up for the fact that it's a lame talent.</span></li>
<li><strong>Tremor Totem has been redesigned. The totem is now usable under Fear, Charm, or Sleep effects, and pulses much more rapidly, but lasts 6 seconds and has a 1-minute cooldown.</strong> - <span style="color: #073763;">Tremor Totem was fine the way it was. It was a nice little insurance policy that shaman's carried with them. The constant pulse was far more useful without being overpowered. I think as of right now Shamans are probably the least desired of any class in a raid build and losing unique tools like Tremor Totem and Heroism has gone a long way to this end. I say boo to this change.</span></li>
</ul><br />
Restoration <br />
<ul><li><strong>Cleansing Waters no longer fires its heal effect twice when a shaman removes a Magic and a Curse debuff with a single cast.</strong> - <span style="color: #073763;">That's fair. It shouldn't have done that in the first place</span> </li>
<li><strong>Deep Healing (Mastery) has been increased to 3% per point, up from 2.5%.</strong> - <span style="color: #073763;">Buffing mastery doesn't make it any more desirable a stat thanks to it being useful only in a handful of circumstances.</span> </li>
<li><strong>Earth Shield can no longer be dispelled.</strong> - <span style="color: #073763;">Doesn't impact us from a PvE standpoint</span>. </li>
<li><strong>Greater Healing Wave mana cost has been increased by 10%; healing done has been increased by 20%. - </strong><span style="color: #073763;">This is an excellent change. Now GHW can go back into the arsenal and do what it was designed to do: Take a long time to cast, drain your mana, but put a big ass heal on your target. Bravo Blizz!</span> </li>
<li><strong>Mana Tide Totem has been redesigned. The totem no longer multiplies the Spirit of those affected by it. It instead gives a flat amount of Spirit equal to 400% of the casting shaman's Spirit, exclusive of short-term Spirit buffs affecting the shaman when the totem is dropped. In addition, its effects are now raid-wide. - </strong><span style="color: #073763;">While this does stop us from abusing the spirit trink/MTT drop we had to see this coming. We could almost break the mana conservation mechanics with correct trinket and totem management. The raid wide thing is nice too. </span></li>
</ul>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-19799378533183342862011-02-11T09:33:00.001-06:002011-02-11T09:39:53.673-06:00Blog Azeroth Shared Topic: Reign Over WoWNaithin over at <a href="http://funingames.net/">Fun In Games</a> suggested this <a href="http://blogazeroth.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=2749">Blog Azeroth Shared Topic</a>. What would you do if you had a chance to redesign wow from the beginning?<br />
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Naithin opened the shared topic with:<br />
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<em>"Pretend for a moment that WoW hasn't yet been released. Or perhaps it is, but you've never heard of the whole SWG NGE debacle, and thus have no fear about dramatically changing how everything works post-release.<br />
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You have the original (or BC, or Wrath, or Current, your pick) design docs to start from, but you're free to change <span style="font-style: italic;">absolutely <span style="font-weight: bold;">everything</span></span> if you so choose.<br />
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With all this power, what would you change? What would make WoW the <span style="font-weight: bold;">dream</span> game for <span style="font-style: italic;">you?"</span></em><br />
Making WoW the perfect game... Blizz has done a better job than anyone else so far but there are things about the game that irk me and make the play experience less than optimal. Some of them are tweaks that could be accomplished in the current game state but many are design choices that are fairly unalterable now.<br />
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Lets get started shall we!<br />
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<ul><li><strong>Character Customization(Look)</strong> - I think a big part of what helps you connect with your avatar is the ability to customize it. Just from a pure visual standpoint our options in WoW are extremely limited. A single body type/height per sex, a few different faces, and very limited hair/facial hair choices. I hate the fact that my shaman looks like 50 other guys on the server. I would definitely give the entire character creation system a major overhaul. Some people like the simplicity so I'd have a basic and advanced creation system. Basic would be pretty much what we have now but with more options and a body type selector. Advanced would include sliders galore! If you've ever played a Bethesda game you know what I'm talking about. </li>
<li><strong>Character Customization(Mechanics)</strong> - I like the talent system. I think it's a way to have some choice while keeping things somewhat simple. That being said our talent systems needs more depth. Especially with the great talent change of cata we've always been very restricted in how we can play our toons. There's little if any leeway in our specs and having the same spec as every other jerkwad with a chain heal serves to further disconnect me from my character. While I like the basic three tree setup I'd definitely ditch the new locking of the other talent trees until a certain level was reached in your "primary" tree. I think for newer players you could add an autospec feature that would ask you what role you planned on playing and whether or not you'd do more PvP or PvE and then assign talents accordingly. The biggest thing I would do is add a "flavor" tree that opens up after you reach a certain level and allows you to customize non-combat abilities. Your ghost wolf is now a ghost stag or your warrior now has a different animation for shield bash. There are som many little tweaks that could make you feel more in tune with your avatar.</li>
<li><strong>Guild or Player Housing </strong>- I know this is a hot button issue with many people but after what... 6 years of WoW we still have no kind of personal space? Almost every single mmo offers this as an option. why don't we have it? The excuse that it would empty out the cities is weak. If you put stuff to do in the cities then they won't be abandoned. Having no place to call my own makes me feel less a part of the world. My poor hunter hasn't slept in a bed in 6 years! Are all of my badass heroes nothing more than homeless busybodies? An instanced area where I have a house is all I want. If you want to make it low on features to keep me in the world I'm allright with that but I want a space for my poor toons to crash. </li>
<li><strong>PvP </strong>- I know I'm going to anger some people but WoW has some of the worst PvP of any game out there. Have you ever played Eve Online? That's a game that's made for PvP, but Eve's PvE content greatly suffers for it. I think Blizz wants to have its cake and eat it too. Playing against a computer and playing against people is such a vastly different experience that without a significant separation between the two mechanics one side will suffer. I think the base design of the game doesn't allow for great PvP and I think that balancing PvP has gone a long way to hurt the PvE aspect of the game. I would redesign pvp from the ground up. World PvP would be out the window and the game would have distinct separation with certain things working in PvE or PvP but not in both. I also think a few more Zone Control areas like Tol Barad would be nice. The PvP determines who controls the area for a while but after the battle it reverts to a PvE area until it's battle time again. It's a great way to highlight the Alliance/Horde war without forcing people to PvP.</li>
<li><strong>Cleared Content </strong>- Once I've cleared something I want to see the effects of my labor. I know phasing has done much to help this but I want it taken to the next level. I would give people a phasing "switch" once they have cleared a raid/completed a quest/done something that has an impact. When the switch is "on" the player sees the new pacified zone but when the switch is "off" it reverts to it's original state to allow farming/quest completion etc. This could be further refined but I think you get the basic idea.</li>
</ul>I think WoW is a great game. I love playing it and writing about it but I think the above ideas would improve the game. There are many other tweaks and redesign choices that would make the game better for me but I want to hear from you. What would make your WoW experience richer?Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-65606552483300443542011-02-10T08:00:00.001-06:002011-02-10T08:00:11.767-06:00Help Me Help You!Having run a resto shaman for several years now I thought I'd write a little article about things that help us to help you. Each healer in wow is different and there are a few things you can do to help us keep your butt alive.<br />
<a name='more'></a>There are a few behaviors that help every healer no matter the class.<br />
<ul><li><strong>STAY OUT OF THE $#@%ing Fire!</strong> - If there is an ability that damages you but is avoidable... avoid it! Staying out of the fire isn't just about moving out of AoE that mobs put down. It's about avoiding every last scrap of damage you can. </li>
<li><strong>Interrupt the Interruptable</strong> - There are so many abilities on bosses and on trash that can be interrupted. Interrupt everything you can unless you have to save your interrupt for a specific ability. The more you interrupt the less mana I spend and the greater chances you have of not faceplanting.</li>
<li><strong>Stay in LoS</strong> - If we can't see you we can't heal you. Staying in LoS and keeping track of your healer's location isn't hard. We do understand that sometimes you have to go out of LoS or range to perform some task vital to the encounter. Let us know before hand so we can pop a hot on you and do our best to keep you up.</li>
</ul>There are also a few specifics for shaman<br />
<ul><li><strong>12.5 Yards! - </strong>What's this mean? 12.5 Yards is the maximum distance our chain heal can bounce. If fight mechanics allow for it try to stay this close to your party/raid mates. A 2 bounce chain heal isn't worth it but with the recent buff to chain heal a 3-4 bouncer is totally worth it.</li>
<li><strong>Look at the Totems - </strong>Watch where we plop these puppies down. Most have a circular 30-40yd range depending on the totem. If you're not close enough to them you don't get the buff. The most important one to be close to is Healing Stream totem as it gives you a constant tick of health every 5 seconds and, if glyphed, provides spell resistance. For spellcasters you want to be close when we drop Mana Tide Totem. It increases your spirit by 400% of the casting shaman's spirit. Nom Nom.</li>
<li><strong>Sweet Sweet Rain - </strong>Healing rain is our AoE heal. It shows up on the ground as a big blue circle. Fortunately it just got a buff to its size but it's still something you need to stand in. I've seen people on the brink of death standing just outside its radius. That damn spell costs 11k mana. Stand in it. Now.</li>
<li><strong>Talk to me Goose</strong> - We've got a whole bunch of totems that do different stuff. If you need a buff let us know and chances are we can help out.</li>
</ul>These are a few things that can help your friendly neighborhood resto shammy. Anyone have any others?Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-23334303755714573422011-02-09T15:07:00.000-06:002011-02-09T15:07:59.785-06:00The Forest For The TreesYou know the saying. Can't see the forest for the trees. Sometimes it's very easy to miss the big picture while focusing on the details. The following is a meandering story with a somewhat cogent point at the end. Read at your own risk.<br />
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I have a very good friend who also happens to be an uber talented mage. She can make her little gnome avatar unleash a hurt that would make deathwing himself tremble in terror. Around our guild we call her "The Nuke."<br />
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I'm proud to say that I was the person who got her and her husband in to WoW. We were co-workers and both big video game nerds and her hubby was looking in to WoW. He came over to our server and joined our guild and she followed suit shortly thereafter. That was early BC and we've all been playing together since. We've all stuck together through guild melt-downs and various other wow drama. She was a bridesmaid for my wife and her husband performed our wedding ceremony so needless to say we're a tight-knit crew.<br />
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Near the end of Wrath we had all been in a guild that had another meltdown and we migrated to a new home only to have my wife's computer die and various other RL crap keep the both of us from playing much. Our nuke decided she wanted to try a big raiding guild as raids are what she loves and excels at. With her level of skill she was easily accepted and left a trail of charred and magic scarred corpses through the end of the last expansion.<br />
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After fixing the wife's comp and getting our stuff together we came in near the end of wrath, cleared LK and got our house in order. Our nuke still wanted to stay big and although we missed her we realized that we couldn't provide the hardcore raiding atmosphere she wanted and we were happy she was happy. <br />
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We were kept up to date on how things were going in her guild and it got me thinking. They were having her change specs back and forth due to theoretical dps gains then benched her when her dps wasn't on par with their expectations. While min/maxing can be a good thing and you need a bit of it to succeed don't lose sight of the big picture.<br />
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To put a cap on the story our nuke finally got fed up with the BS and came on back to us. I know we can't give her the same level of progression she had but it is good to have old friends back in the fold. The shortsightedness of her former guild lost them a mage that I would put up against all but the no-lifers. They can suck it thought... we got our nuke back.<br />
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Now on to the point. If EJ or some other min/max site states that X is better than Y you need to think long and hard before letting your class leads dictate required specs. If a player has a preferred spec make sure you think long and hard before asking them to change it. Aside from the fact that occasionally EJ is *gasp* wrong sometimes the gains are so marginal that it's not worth having someone try to change the way they do things. Remember alot of min/max sites are for raiders who are on the bleeding edge of content and even most of the larger raiding guilds aren't at this level. <br />
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This principle applies to more than spec. If someone has a way of doing things make sure you take the time to find out why before asking them to change anything. Sometimes you have to say "Honestly an Arms specced tank won't quite work." but you may find variations on standard specs that work really well for certain people or add the much needed "utility."<br />
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In the end it's good to keep an open mind about this stuff. Don't let EJ or any other website do the thinking for you or your guildies. First hand knowledge is the best hand knowledge.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-71196542935825615562011-01-27T16:18:00.001-06:002011-01-27T16:19:35.005-06:00Your Tanking ToolkitTanking is making mobs mad enough to punch you in the face repeatedly and ignore the monkeys flinging poo at them... I mean dps doing damage to them. Each type of tank (warrior, druid, death knight, paladin) requires a different play style but there are some universal tanking tools. I'm going to help you build a "toolkit" to improve your tanking. <br />
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<strong>1. Mouseturn</strong><br />
The first item you should put in your toolkit is the mouseturn. Many players already do this but many still do not. Mousturning is just what it sounds like, using your mouse to turn your character instead of your keys. It's annoying at first and takes practice, especially if you've been keyturning for years, but the payoff is phenomenal. Instead of waiting a few seconds to turn and run from something you just zip your mouse around and get the heck outta dodge. If you want to learn how to mouseturn looking4more has a great guide <a href="http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/situational-awareness-and-you-part-1/"><span style="color: purple;">here</span></a>.<br />
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<strong>2. Learn Your Class</strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Take the time to get to know exactly what your little pile of pixels is capable of. You need to know exactly what your abilities do, which survival cooldowns you have and which stats to stack. Much of being a successful tank comes from planning. Because you are the base upon which your party/raid is built there is no room for error. A crack in the foundation can lead to the collapse of the entire structure. If you aren’t ready to put in a little extra work then you probably aren’t ready to be a good tank.</span></strong><br />
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<strong>3. Learn Who Can CC What</strong><br />
Crowd Control or CC is an essential part of the game again and you need to learn who can do what to whom. Most classes have at least one CC but are limited by what type of mob they can lock down. Ophelie at <a href="http://bossypally.wordpress.com/">The Bossy Pally</a> has this <a href="http://bossypally.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/a-crowd-control-compendium/">excellent CC guide</a>. <br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. Learn the Fights</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">If you don’t know a fight your chances of dying increase. In raids and instances a dead tank almost always means a wipe. Your job is to get everything to hit you… and live through it… so things can continue to hit you. You cannot die to avoidable mechanics. Make sure you do your homework and come prepared.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5. Gearing/Speccing</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">There’s a common theme running through this post and it all has to do with preparedness. There is no other role that takes the amount of preparation that tanking does. Gearing and Speccing are not exceptions. Go to <a href="http://elitistjerks.com/">Elitist Jerks</a> or <a href="http://tankspot.com/">Tankspot</a> if you have no clue how to spec or what stats to go for. The people there are uber-knowledgeable and their forums will help improve your game.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Another part of gearing is making sure that your gear is properly enhanced. Not many people can afford the best of the best enchants right now but you if you are in any kind tanking role you MUST enhance your gear to the best of your ability. There are many of the cheaper enhancements that work very well and won’t cost you an arm or a leg. </div><br />
<strong>6. Mark Quickly</strong><br />
Marking can really slow down a run if you don't know how to do it quickly. If you learn who can CC what as suggested above it will go a long way to speeding up your marking. Next you need to be consistent with your marking. Not everyone marks the same way but some standards are:<br />
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Skull=Primary Target<br />
X = Secondary Target<br />
Moon = Sheep<br />
Square = Hunter Trap<br />
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(It's very important to remember that if you mark a skull chances are your dps are going to be burning it hard. The skull should be the primary recipient of your burning hatred. You need to keep enough threat on other targets to overcome healing aggro or stray aoe but focus mainly on the primary target.)<br />
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Keybinding your marks will also help when trying to get things done quickly. Something my buddy Toshi taught me was keybindng them to the numpad. I've got 1-8 as marks and 9 to clear. You can find this option in the stock blizzard key bindings interface. I don't know how well it would work for a left hander but it's great for righties.<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">7. A Few Addons</b><br />
There are many great addons for tanking but there are a few that I feel are damn near necessary:<br />
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<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><a href="http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/tidy-plates.aspx">TidyPlates</a> <a href="http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/tidy-plates-threat-plates.aspx">Threatplates</a> – <a href="http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/tidy-plates.aspx">Tidyplates</a> is an awesome addon on its own but when you download <a href="http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/tidy-plates-threat-plates.aspx">Threaplates</a> as well it becomes one of the most awesomest awesomes of awesome mountain. It lets you look at nice neat nameplates and see how much aggro you have on mobs. The best thing is, drumroll please, it works with almost no configuration… beautiful.</div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><a href="http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/tauntmaster.aspx">TauntMaster</a> – It’s like healbot for tanks. It puts up a nice neat raidframe where a player’s name turns red if they draw aggro. You click on the name and it taunts whatever’s targeting them. You can also configure it to use other spells. </div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><a href="http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/deadly-boss-mods.aspx">DeadlyBossMods</a> – Good ol’ DBM. It’s been helping people stay out of the stupid for years. Download and learn to love it.</div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><a href="http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/castbars.aspx">Castbars</a> – My castbar mod of choice. It’s most useful feature is the target castbar, letting you know when to interrupt. </div><br />
There are many more great addons but these are a good place to start. I’m not a fan of the stock ui so I modify heavily… ymmv.<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">8. Your Big Fat Brain</b><br />
Your decisions while tanking effect the whole party. The ability to see and interpret data quickly and make a decision based on what you learned is key to being a successful tank. Another word for this is <a href="http://www.blogger.com/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation_awareness">Situational Awareness</a>. I know I’ve harped on this before but it’s what separates good players from great ones and as a tank you’re not allowed to just be “okay”. There are many ways to improve your awareness but the best wow specific way I’ve found is to go PvP for a while. While I don’t think wow’s PvP is the greatest it does teach you to think on your feet a little better as you are going up against unpredictable humans. After a few battlegrounds you’ll find your mind and reflexes sharpened a bit.<br />
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There are many more ways to improve your tanking and many of them are class specific but these tools should provide you with a good base to start from. Remember tanking isn’t easy and it takes practice. If you are a new tank it’s best to learn in a positive environment so con a few guildies into helping you out and go get smacked around!Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-21367555842445812312011-01-26T10:56:00.001-06:002011-02-14T08:16:02.004-06:00Blog Azeroth Shared Topic: When Good Guildies Go BadMeet Bob. Bob is a solid healer, reliable raider and all around good guy. Meet event X that affects Bob's performance, attendance, or attitude. What does a RL/GM/Friend do about it?<br />
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What do you do? How do you keep the guildie from disrupting normal guild operations while trying to salvage what was once a great asset?<br />
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<strong>Get the Scoop</strong>:<br />
Before jumping to any conclusion get the story straight from the horse's mouth. Don't go by what Officer Tom said because Officer Tom is a bastard and will lead you astray. You want your information straight from the source. If it's something extremely personal that they don't want to talk about that's okay. At least now you know it's a personal issue outside of your sphere of influence. If the guildie has a problem with you personally then try to address it and if you cannot call in a trusted officer to mediate.<br />
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<strong>Listen:</strong><br />
When they explain their situation you need to listen. When I say listen I don't mean the kind of listening you do when your wife starts giving you a list of chores or starts talking about feelings (whatever those are). Make sure you completely understand the situation and ask them to repeat things as necessary so you can fully grasp what's going on. As much as you might want to don't give any counter argument or really do anything but ask them to clarify statements until they have finished and you understand what they were saying. You want a full picture from their perspective.<br />
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<strong>Be Honest:</strong><br />
Lay down your side of the argument and be completely honest with the person. Honest doesn't have to be harsh though. "You've been a total ass in G-Chat." is a very ineffective way to say "You haven't been yourself lately and you've been taking it out on people in G-Chat." Your goal here is to point out how they are impacting the guild not to point a finger and call them a d-bag. Have you ever heard the phrase "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."? This phrase applies here. If you put them on the defensive your conversation is likely to end badly.<br />
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<strong>Remember Past Triumphs:</strong><br />
Give them credit where credit is due. If it's a solid raider who's been with you since Vanilla and they're just having a rough spot then that's something to take into consideration. Even if you're not in a guild that's "friendly" consider the investment the guild has made in this person. From a cost/benefit point of view it makes more sense to try and salvage the relationship rather than write it off. Whenever an issue arises try to think what would happen if you took a raw recruit and put them in that player's position.<br />
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<strong>Forgive - Don't Forget:</strong><br />
Forgiveness may be divine but forgetfulness is stupid. If this is a consistent behavior then it's something that shouldn't be tolerated. People who constantly jump across the line and cause guild disruptions are cancers that need to be excised. <br />
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<strong>One Last Chance:</strong><br />
In my guild when someone is on the brink we have what is called a "Come to Jesus Meeting". This is where we let them know that their behavior is jeopardizing their status as a member and they have one last chance to get their act together. You lay down exactly what needs to change. It's a good idea to ask what you can do to help but only if you genuinely will help the person. Ask them what they need to be able to make these changes if they are even willing to in the first place. <br />
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<strong>Cut Your Losses:</strong><br />
There's a time when it's just better to part ways with a player. Try to make it as amicable as possible. Unfortunately we all know that this isn't always the way it goes. Minimize guild disruptions and be honest with the rest of the guild as to why the person was removed. This is particularly tough to do with the formerly good player but you once again have to weigh the cost vs. the benefit. Remember guilds are made up of a group of people and one person should not compromise the experience of everyone else.<br />
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It's tough dealing with a rogue guildie, even more so when it's a good guildie. Just remember to keep everything in perspective (this is a game after all) and approach the situation with a clear head. With calm clear thinking almost any problem can be solved with minimal drama.<br />
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It's a problem many of us have seen. In a more hardcore guild it's not really all that much of a problem. The player who doesn't perform doesn't raid and the person who acts like a hygiene product usually gets kicked. In a non-raiding casual guild it can cause varying levels of damage depending on how big a part of the guild the person was. I wish I could throw some RP guild experience in here but sadly I can't. It would seem though that an attitude problem would be extremely detrimental to roleplaying though.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-11276501614236256212011-01-21T15:18:00.000-06:002011-01-21T15:18:44.223-06:00Were Five Levels Enough?This weeks <a href="http://blogazeroth.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=2734">Blog Azeroth Shared Topic</a> is brought to us by <a href="http://www.flinthammer.org/">Ringo Flinthammer</a> and the letter *. Were 5 levels truly enough for this expansion? I guess it kind of depends on which crowd you run with.<br />
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The types of people who play wow are as diverse as the races that populate our imaginary world. As with any population the goals of people can be vastly different. In order to keep this posting from rambling on I've condensed it to a few specific groups.<br />
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<strong>End Game PvPers and Raiders</strong><br />
When it comes to this group the words End Game sum it all up. For many people, myself inculded, the game doesn't really begin until level cap. The leveling experience is nice and the story is pretty cool but if given a button to press that would insta-level us we'd do it in a heartbeat. For most players in this category 85 is less of a destination and more of a checkpoint you have to go through to start your true journey.<br />
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The only real problem I see with this is that 5 levels don't really give you a chance to hone your skills, especially with all of the changes in game philosophy, before the level cap. This leaves some players who may be newer to the game at a disadvantge when it comes to heroics and battlegrounds. I see this as only a minor problem though since wow is a social game most people learn from their more experienced guild mates.<br />
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<strong>Casual Players</strong><br />
Before going any further I'd like to give a little mini-rant about "Casuals". <br />
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/rant<br />
<em>Just because someone doesn't spend a crapload of time playing wow doesn't entitle you to bash them, laugh at their skill or generally be an ass-<span id="hotword" name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;">tam</span> <span id="hotword" name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;">o'shanter. Casual players pay their 15 a month just like everyone else and contribute more to the game than you think. For Example:</span></em><br />
<ul><li><span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"><em>Money - Blizzard has to make a profit for WoW to keep going. As long as there's a strong casual following WoW will never die</em></span></li>
<li><span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"><em>Population - The world would feel pretty empty without people in it. Players make the world feel alive and I think that helps add to the immersive illusion.</em></span></li>
<li><span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"><em>Gold - Who do you think buys all the crap you make/farm. Some goes to the hardcore crowd but the bulk of it goes to the casual players. They also make and sell many of the goods you find in the AH. Think how expensive flasks would be if only the hardcore made them.</em></span></li>
<li><span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"><em>De-Stankify - Thanks to wow's huge casual following we've all been de-stankified a little. The social stigma that has attached itself to our culture is slowly starting to turn around and I believe that wow's popularity has had a huge impact on it.</em></span></li>
</ul><span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"><em>Okay the casual's are people too rant is done. I actually wanted to make this its own post but didn't have enough gas in the tank to do more than the blurb here.</em></span><br />
<span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"><em>/rant done</em></span><br />
<br />
<span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;">In my opinion 5 levels isn't quite enough for the casual crowd. If you're not in a raiding or pvp guild then what do you do after the week or two it takes to get from 80-85? Dailies, farming, and crafting get old fast and if you don't have a good group for instances then heroics can be really difficult to pug. Leveling alts can be fun but going through the same quests over and over again gets monotonous. Hopefully blizz will come out with some more casual friendly content for the huge amount of casual players in the game.</span><br />
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<span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"><strong>Roleplayers</strong></span><br />
<span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;">For the RP'rs among us I see this a more neutral issue. People can roleplay regardless of level so I don't see how much this would impact the RP crowd. If someone with more experience wants to enlighten me please do so in the comments below as I'm really curious as to how the decrease in level cap affected this portion of the WoW community.</span><br />
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<span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"><strong>Casual Raiders</strong></span><br />
<span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;">I consider most "Casual Raiders" to be in the same category as the endgame group. Most of us are busy people who love to raid and play the endgame but have limited time. For us the low level cap is all gravy. Less time spent leveling = More time to spend doing what we love... raiding! </span><br />
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<span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;">For as limited as my time is in WoW I have a shaman who's raid ready, an 85 druid who's tanked his first few regs and an 83 DK who should cap out his archaeology soon. Thanks to the condensed leveling experience I've been able to not only get my main geared but have fun bringing up a couple of my favorite alts.</span><span name="hotword" onclick="this.style.backgroundColor='#b5d5ff';return hotWord(this);" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor='transparent'" onmouseover="this.style.cursor='default'" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"></span><br />
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What's your opinion on the matter? Did 5 levels feel good to you? What would you have changed?Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-90467919690530281582011-01-14T11:18:00.000-06:002011-01-14T11:18:03.106-06:00Your TankTanks. You have to love 'em. The metal (or fur) covered stalwarts that stand between you and a big pile of nasty. I just wanted to take this opportunity and to give any readers an opportunity to say thanks to their favorite tank for keeping our collective butts safe from harm.<br />
<a name='more'></a>During the last part of BC and the first portion of Wrath I made my living as a Bear and DK tank respectively and I really don't think people realize amount of work a good tank puts in to the game. They are such a crucial part of any 5-Man or raid that in order to be successful they have put in extra effort. A good tank is usually well geared, enchanted, gemmed, and knowledgeable.<br />
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If a dps isn't 100% on their game then their numbers are a little lower but it's not that big a deal. If a tank has an off day the party dies. Aside from the extra time it takes to prep a tank they have to deal with the stress of always being near perfect. I won't ramble on about the difficulties tanks face but I want to stress to you how important it is to appreciate your tank. So /hug your tank today, you'll be glad you did.<br />
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Today I send a big /salute to Toshizo, the best tank a Shaman could ask for. Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-90199419236396990952011-01-11T16:42:00.003-06:002011-01-26T13:12:37.472-06:00Blog Azeroth Shared Topic: An Open Letter to Cataclysm HeroicsThis weeks <a href="http://blogazeroth.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=2725">shared topic</a> was brought to us by <a href="http://blamesquelchy.wordpress.com/">Squelchy of Blame Squelchy</a>. Hit the jump for a nice little letter to our new favorite pastime... heroics.<br />
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Dear Heroics,<br />
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I'm so glad to see you again. I remembered fondly the days of Outland and longed for them while questing in the frozen north. I remembered then how difficult it was to plunder you depths. Your instances required special keys just to spread wide the doors for entry. Then you became easy.<br />
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In Northrend we didn't have to work for your affection. We piled in, shot AoE all over you and took what we wanted. There was no skill involved, no finesse, just brute force. In these days the loot was easy but it felt cheaper... you felt cheaper.<br />
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Then came Cata and you once again feel classy. We, your erstwhile runners, must work for the blessing of your gear. Mobs must be sheeped or you repel our attempts. We must avoid fire lest you scorn us. Our healers must conserve their mana or they won't have the longevity to keep up with the fever pitch of your battles. I have once again felt love for instances and it is all because of you cata instances.<br />
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Yours Truly,<br />
<br />
JackJackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-67201024854946127352011-01-11T09:59:00.000-06:002011-01-11T09:59:50.861-06:00Officer Hour: When to benchFor most hardcore raiding guilds it's easy to decide who goes to a raid and who is benched. The players with the higher numbers, better survivability and class skill are taken over those who aren't up to their level but what casual raiding guilds?<br />
<a name='more'></a>It's tough when you see one member dragging the rest of your crew down. What's even worse is when it's someone you like. How do you walk the line between being a results driven jerk and a pushover who never gets a boss down? In the words of Mr. Spock "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." I'm not a big Star Trek fan but there's wisdom in those words. One the other side of the coin we have, courtesy of Alexandre Dumas, "All for one and one for all!"<br />
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Depending on the size of your raids you have 10-25 people counting on each other to do there job. If one person, no matter your personal opinion of them, is keeping the rest back then the only fair thing to do is cut them... right? 9 times out of 10 I would say yes but there are certain exceptions that I think apply. These are especially true for the less than hardcore guilds. Here are a few questions you should ask before deciding to bench a player.<br />
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<strong>Can the base numbers to complete fights be reached with this person present?</strong><br />
If the answer is yes then you may want to take some of the following questions under consideration. If the answer is no then the player should be benched. If you can't meet the requirements for a fight then raiding is just an excuse to spend money on repair bills. <br />
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<strong>Does the player bring an intangible to the raid?</strong><br />
Maybe you have a player that sucks at dps but keeps the entire raids morale up through their sense of humor. Sometimes it's worth the sacrifice in numbers to bring the guild comedian. It doesn't just apply to humor though. Maybe there's someone who really lends to group focus or strategy. There are many things other than numbers that a player can bring to a raid.<br />
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<strong>Is the player a Tank/Healer/DPS</strong><br />
I never let questionable players take on a tanking or healing role. Tanks and Healers are the linchpins of a raid, you have a weak one and the wheels come off. I'm not trying to marginalize the role of DPS but if one dies the attempt keeps going, but if a tank or a couple of healers die it's generally a wipe. <br />
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<strong>Is there potential?</strong><br />
Can this player be taught? Is it someone you've talked to and tried to help but just won't learn or is it a newer player or someone new to the class just learning the ropes. In general if I see improvement in a player I'm more inclined to take them on a raid as it will help develop them into an asset.<br />
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<strong>How to say no.</strong><br />
I'd like to reiterate the point that all of the above is moot unless you have the minimum to complete an encounter. Math doesn't lie; 100,000k raid wide <span style="background-color: white;">dps on a fight that requires 105,000 flat out will not cut it. Many casual raiding guilds are tight-knit and some</span> people will take personal offense to being benched. <br />
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During the several years I was a GM I found it caused far fewer problems if I or another officer talked to the person one on one beforehand and explained the situation. Don't be accusatory or hostile but point out that they don't have the numbers to complete the fight. <br />
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With most people you'll have things under control at this point but some take it hard when you bench them. For those people it's handy to keep data on what a fight needs and what their current output is. I've never had anyone persist after being shown concrete evidence that completion is not possible with them in the raid. Remember kids communication keeps drama from rearing its ugly head.<br />
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<strong>How to say yes.</strong><br />
Carrying a dps, especially in a ten man, makes the raid more difficult and can lead to some friction between raiders. If someone takes issue with a person being brought in the best thing to do, once again in a one on one situation, is to explain yourself clearly to the offended player. I generally say something to the effect of , "The fight can be done with them in the group and they've done or bring x,y and z that earns them a spot." Don't make them feel like an a-hole for not wanting to bring the player but point out the strengths of the player in question and your reasoning for wanting them along. I've had people fight me on this one before but usually after a bit of explanation they calm down enough for the raid to continue on as scheduled.<br />
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Remember numbers aren't everything but they are something. Minimums must be met but exceptions can also be made. At the end of the day raiding is about getting together and accomplishing something with friends. You should do everything you can to facilitate that.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-17659019177092363482011-01-07T16:13:00.001-06:002011-01-12T09:22:43.942-06:00Out in the coldAny other shamans feel a little left out in the cold by the <a href="http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2138-Patch-4.0.6-Patch-Notes-(PTR)">latest patch notes</a>? This isn't a we need buffs post but we certainly aren't balanced to perfection and the lack of tweaks to the class is a little disheartening. Resto mastery is all screwed up for starters and elemental just feels clunky as a whole as far as enhancment goes I don't really know but I'm sure it's not perfect. I'm not going to post a big rant about it... just needed to vent for a few mins. What are your thoughts on it? Do you think shamans are okay right now? What needs tweaking, buffing, nerfing or just attention in general?Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-15361095957956999422011-01-07T15:54:00.000-06:002011-01-07T15:54:09.753-06:00Catching up over the weekendSorry for the lack of a real post today folks. Things have been hectic on the work front and I seem to have destroyed one of my already screwed up knees. I plan on catching up on a few articles this weekend and should have posts back up to speed by monday. Also look for a shaman pre-heroic speed gear guide soon.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-86304449209063510552011-01-06T12:03:00.004-06:002011-02-25T15:41:01.501-06:00Limited Time Only: Working Smarter<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a phrase <span style="background-color: white;">where I work that gets used often; “Work smarter, not harder.” We do a ton of software installation and configuration and to do it all manually for a few hundred computers would be impossible. Instead of wasting every moment of every shift endlessly tweaking things we create a script. The way it's used in this case is to automate the process of installing and configuring software on a computer. It's "fire and forget" as the military folks say. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">So how does this apply to WoW?</span> <br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Teaching you to farm smarter is the purpose of this article. The most efficient way is to automate. Before anyone gets the wrong idea let me emphasize! <strong><u>DO NOT USE BOTS, CHEATS OR "</u></strong><b><u><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">HAXXORZ</span></u></b><strong><u>!"</u></strong> If you use a bot not only are you violating the EULA but you’re taking some of the life out of your game. Even if you don't get caught you've cheapened your experience and unbalanced mine.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="background-color: white;"><u>Farming</u>:</span></strong><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: white;">Farming, for most people, is a pain in the butt. Endlessly flying around TH looking for ore or going up and down the river in <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">Uldum</span> picking <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">Whiptail</span> isn't what most people call fun. Fly, click, fly, curse at player who "stole" your node, eat <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">sandvich</span>, fly, click, swear some more and finally hearth. Grinding up a gathering profession isn't hard and should be done while leveling but o<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">nce</span> you've reached the gathering cap it's time to stop farming. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">Whaaaaa</span>!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Yup I said it's time to stop farming and automate. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>"How can I do this without a bot?" you say. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>"Well listen here and I'll tell you." replies the incredibly handsome blogger.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white;"><u>Getting a supplier</u>:</span></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">I have two words for you: Contract Labor. I do not mean hiring some Chinese gold farmer to mine ore for you. Hire someone in-game, with game currency (gold), to do your farming for you. At the very beginning of the expansion this was impossible as the price of mats were outrageous. There was no real way to turn a profit this way and most farmers weren't willing to set up deals yet as they could turn a big profit by watching the AH closely. Now that things have stabilized somewhat you can find people willing to send you a portion of their farming gains for a steady supply of gold. To clarify further here's what I did:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">My shaman, <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">Cthulhus</span>, is a <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">jewelcrafter</span>/miner. If worse comes to worse I can go out in the wide world and <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">plink</span> on some nodes but I'd rather be running heroics or leveling an alt or... well doing just about anything else. So to satiate my hunger for ore I watched the market for a few days. I noted who sold large quantities of ore, who sold reasonably but most importantly who was consistently putting up daily auctions. I contacted the seller via whisper, I was lucky they were on but this can be done via mail if necessary, and made a proposal.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">I opened up with an offer to buy 5 stacks daily guaranteed at 65% AH value. This of course was a bit of a <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">lowball,</span> as it's not all that profitable for the farmer, but it leaves room for negotiation. If you don't believe in negotiation then you're really shooting yourself in the foot. Someone who feels they have negotiated a good deal is happier with the arrangement and more likely to be a long term partner than someone who has the terms of an arrangement dictated to them.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>The Deal</u></b>:</span><br />
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<ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="background-color: white;">4 stacks minimum 7 stacks maximum (<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">Elementium</span>) sent by C.O.D. daily</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="background-color: white;">2 stacks minimum 4 stacks maximum (<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">Obsidium</span>) sent by C.O.D. daily</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="background-color: white;">1 stack (Pyrite) sent by C.O.D. every Monday</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="background-color: white;">Price for <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">elementium</span>/<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">obsidium</span> at 75% of lowest AH buyout determined every Monday</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="background-color: white;">Price for Pyrite at 80% of lowest AH buyout determined every Monday</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="background-color: white;">Free <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">JC</span> services (mats not included) for the miner</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="background-color: white;">Free Alchemy services (mats not included) for the miner</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="background-color: white;">Evaluate contract every 30 days</span></li>
</ul><span style="background-color: white;">Now I have a steady ore supply. I can prospect the ore, sell the gems and make a profit with no farming required. As the gem market fluctuates my profits will increase and decrease but, in my experience, it is almost always possible to, at the very least, break even. My <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat;">DK</span> is a blacksmith and sitting at 495. I can now chose to divert some of my profit margin to upping his BS. Once he is maxed I'll have another possible revenue stream if the gem market dries up for a bit. The most important part is I no longer have to spend time mining ore. Just a few minutes per day processing the raw materials and setting up auctions to keep the cash flowing take the place of several hours of farming per week. This is a great arrangement for me.</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white;"><u>Keeping a Supplier</u>:</span></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Don't go thinking I'm taking advantage of the miner here. Aside from the fact that taking advantage of someone is wrong; if you don't treat your new found partner well you'll be looking for another partner soon. It's extremely important for the deal to be beneficial to both parties. The basics of it are I get a steady supply of ore at a discount price and he gets a steady stream of gold for dropping a few items in the mail C.O.D. I'll also break down some of the bullet points above to show how we keep things fair.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">First and foremost everything is spelled out clearly, simply and objectively. You have to have an easy to abide by agreement. Price, quantity and delivery are all spelled out. As long as the supply is met and the proper price is charged we have a continued relationship.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Second you need something to sweeten the pot a little. I used my Alchemy and Jewelcrafting. Little “Fringe Benefits” will go a long way to helping keep a supplier. It is very important however to specify the terms of the benefits. If I hadn’t made it clear that the offer was free services with his mats then it could have caused a problem when he asked for a bunch of flasks gratis.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Finally you must leave a way to renegotiate or end the contract amicably. I’ve found 30 days is usually a good time frame for this. If you need to adjust prices or your supplier is unhappy with their end you have a time set aside to keep things current. It provides a level of fairness to each side that enhances the feeling of security in the arrangement.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Now as you know none of this is binding in any way and is based completely on the word of both individuals. I have found, however, that a person is pretty well inclined to stick to an agreed upon deal. You may have a bad experience but don’t let that ruin you… there are plenty of good honest farmers out there who will see the benefit in a relationship like this one.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>A few helpful hints</u></b>:</span><br />
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<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Be Honest – Morality aside honesty builds trust and reputation</span></div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Be Fair – No one will stick around in a lopsided agreement</span></div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Be Courteous – No one likes a jerk… Jerky McJerkerson</span></div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Be Open – If your partner wants to discuss the terms of the arrangement be open to hearing what they have to say</span></div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Don’t be afraid to walk away – If your partner acts in bad faith or if the arrangement is no longer profitable don’t be afraid to end the agreement. Do what you can to preserve the relationship but do not continue with a bad deal.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Uphold your end – Always abide by what you agree to. If you have to take a hit to your pocketbook one week don’t worry about it. If it becomes an ongoing thing see the above bullet point.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Cultivate Relationships – If you’re short a player for a random give your miner/herber/skinner a shout. Think of it like playing a round of golf with a business partner. It’s not exactly business related but it helps cement a positive working relationship.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Keep your eye on the profits – The entire purpose of an arrangement like this is profit. If there is no profit then the arrangement is useless. In my case if raw gems aren’t selling well I find which cuts are. If those don’t turn a profit I check what BS stuff I can make. There’s always a way to turn a profit it just takes a little work (much less than farming though.) </span></div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001653748390530667.post-90809428964322521122011-01-04T14:58:00.003-06:002011-01-27T16:47:53.582-06:00Hints to Help your Healer Heart you!Your healers have a tough and thankless job. They stand in the back, have strokes over spike damage and try to hold back their nausea when the oom train comes a callin' all so you can get the glory of killing something. Be grateful whelps! Well okay maybe I went a bit far there but there are a few things you can do to make your healer's life easier and keep them from ragequitting.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Your average 5-man consists of 1 Tank, 1 Healer and 3 DPS. We'll break down what each role can do to help the healer and by extension help themselves. When I run an instance I like to think in terms of a roadtrip. The tank is the driver, controlling the pace of the journey, the healer is the fuel, a finite resource that must be replenished periodically, and the DPS are the angry monkeys who throw poop at passing motorists. Well maybe that's a bit too harsh. They're the roadtrippers. They bring the currency, damage, to buy the stuff we're on the trip to get (the phat lootzorz!!1!!1).<br />
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<u><strong>Hints for the whole crew</strong></u><br />
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There are a few things everyone can do to help their local healer. It's not hard. Really it's not. We love you all:<br />
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<ul><li><u>Know your class</u> - We take pride in knowing how to heal in our specific niche. If you don't know what you're doing as a healer then you won't make it very far. The same is true for you. Practice, research, and ask questions so that you know how to do your job.</li>
<li><u>Interrupt</u> - Any class that can but does not know how to interrupt needs to learn... fast. If a spell an enemy is casting has a shield around it it can't be interrupted but otherwise interrupt everything you can. Depending on the ability interrupted this can save us a ton of mana. We thank you for your cooperation. </li>
<li><u>Gear/Spec/Gem appropriately</u> - I hate to be the one to break it to you but there generally is a right way and a wrong way to spec. A blood DK cannot DPS, Warlocks are not tanks, and if I ever see an arms warrior try to heal again I'm gonna lose my $#!%. Take a little time to figure out how you need to spec. <a href="http://elitistjerks.com/">Elitist Jerks</a> is a great place to go for spec help. You generally don't have to understand the math magic these crazy wizards do but you should listen to their sage advice. Click on the little <u>x/y/z</u> link in their posts and spec accordingly. If you're new to theorycrafting it's a good place to get the ol' noodle rolling as to why you pick certain talents and stack certain stats.</li>
<li><u>Be aware</u> - This is a little something we like to call <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation_awareness">situational awareness</a>. It boils down to knowing wtf is going on around you. Watching Jersey Shore, applying your spray tan and plucking your eyebrows while DPSing is something that will decrease your situational awareness. Focus on the task at hand and most other problems will solve themselves. </li>
</ul><u><strong>Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. Driver</strong></u><br />
<br />
The healer hearts you. We realize that you are strong and brave and keeping all the little nasties from biting/scratching/stabbing/scorching us. We are so fond of you that we want to do everything we can to keep you alive. There are few things you can do that will really help us help you:<br />
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<ul><li><u>Don't "Eat the Damage"</u> - In Wrath you didn't, for the most part, have to avoid most of the stuff the monkeys... errr DPS had to avoid. Your superior health along with our never ending mana-pools meant you could stand in the fire and still be quite alright. This has changed. Our mana-pools are so tiny compared to what heals cost now that standing in fire will drain us to the point where we can't keep you up during the rest of the fight. </li>
<li><u>Use your cooldowns</u> - You have mitigation cooldowns. Use them. For the love of all that is holy use the blasted things!</li>
<li><u>Take your foot off the gas</u> - Running instances quickly is fun and we want to help you facilitate that but please keep in mind that wiping and running back takes far longer than waiting for the healer to mana up. Remember "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."</li>
<li><u>Assign CC</u> - Crowd Control is a healer's best friend. We love it. Two mobs wailing on you as opposed to 4 is a huge difference. When damage is slow and steady we can use slow and efficient heals to keep you up. Slow efficient heals don't drain our mana all that much. More mana equals less recovery time between pulls and the ability to deal with unexpected situations.</li>
</ul><u><strong>Dear Roadtrippers</strong></u><br />
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The healer hearts you too. We realize that the better you are at your job the quicker the fight is over and the less mana we have to spend keeping the tank up. Here are a few suggestions to keep us from calling you a monkey.<br />
<ul><li><u>Watch your aggro</u> - If you aggro a mob then it will come and hit you. You can't mitigate damage like the tank can therefore you take more damage and we must spend more mana to heal you. When mana runs out it's what we in the healing business refer to as a Very Bad Thing. Aside from the extra damage you pull the mob away from the tank and his ability to generate threat on it. If he's not focused on the mob it can break away and come towards the healer after you FD, Fade, Windshear, Iceblock etc... A dead healer = a dead group. </li>
<li><u>Don't stand in the fire</u> - This is the most basic tenet of instance running. If you stand in fire you will be punished. This punishment however is shared by your healer. Every time you stand in fire it whittles away our mana, sanity and souls. It will, bit by excruciating bit, squeeze every last shred of humanity from the dried up husk that was once your healer. A chaos shreds our very existence we will, with the name of a dark god fresh upon our lips, reach up from that black abyss and drag you screaming into oblivion. You don't want this do you?</li>
<li><u>CC if asked</u> - If you can CC and are asked by the tank to please do. If you don't know how to cc it's not hard to learn. Go to a low level area and practice. For some real fun go to a lvl 85 area naked and try to stay alive while aggroing multiple mobs. PvP can also really help with learning some of the finer points of CC. As many BGers and arena players have PvP trinkets you have to watch closely and be aware of diminishing returns. It's a great place to learn to CC.</li>
<li><u>The tank decides the pull</u> - Unless asked to please don't pull. See the top bullet point for why getting aggro is bad and the second bullet point for what this kind of behavior does to the mental state of your healer. Seriously... let the tank pull.</li>
</ul><u><strong>Dear Gastank</strong></u><br />
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We are the only ones the healer does not heart. We tend to be a very self-critical lot and due to the recent changes in dungeons we aren't always the most confident. Take heart dear healers for there are some things we can do to make us love ourselves again!<br />
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<ul><li><u>Learn to triage</u> - This is probably the most important thing to learn. You will not be able to keep an entire group at full health during most heroic encounters. Many times you have to decide who to sacrifice in a dungeon and who to save. The thing that sucks is you don't always save the player who was doing the right thing. A DPS in the fire who's putting out phenomenal numbers near the end of the fight or the one who's done really well the entire time but isn't doing enough dps to tickle a kitten. A tank eating damage or a DPS who just got screwed by RNG? You have to learn not to reward punish players based on how they're doing but who to let live and die based on how necessary they are to finishing the encounter.</li>
<li><u>Learn to heal the Blizz way</u> - I have a pally friend who complains endlessly about how the new way of healing is stupid and he will never heal that way. I've told him that if he doesn't learn then he won't be healing anything any way. The mechanics are the mechanics and you can't change them (at least not without a lot of money or a covert-ops squad of crazy haxxors with special camo and the little black streaks under their eyes). Learn to live with them or don't try to heal. I know it sounds harsh but the old way of healing is dead.</li>
<li><u>Communicate</u> - Sometimes the only thing it takes to get a dps out of the fire is: "Hey dude get out of the fire." No cursing, no exclamations or caps just a good ol' heads up. Tell the driver and the monkeys what they can do to help you and and 90% of the time they will. The other ten percent will cause you to slip deeper into insanity but that's what dark rituals and ancient gods are for right?</li>
</ul>Healing can be stressful. Healing can make things very not fun for the healer and this game is all about having fun right? I mean it is a freakin' game. If you meet a bitter jaded angry healer hopefully this article will have given you some insight as to why they're that way. Follow these few rules and maybe you can bring a healer back from the brink. Remember only you can prevent healer burn out.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879961642893257133noreply@blogger.com0