News and Opinion

General news and opinion about WoW.

SYTYCB: Dear Azeroth, I hate you.

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HateAz(2)

This is a SYTYCB submission from Joveta.

joveta-post The main problem I face being a recent horde-reroll is the fact that my years as Alliance has left me with a pretty full roster of high-ish level characters taking up slots I could be using in newer, greener, hordier pastures. I’m only rarely a quick leveler, so I’m loathe to delete any character I’ve invested the time to drag slowly above the level 40 mark. However, I mercilessly axed all my 20-and-unders to try and get myself the start of a support system hordeside, namely a banker, a goof-off character I can play with my husband, and my current project: the hunter.

My hunter was created with a very simple purpose: to get her butt to 70 as quickly as possible (before the next expansion) and become my farming character. My priest is currently an herbalist/alchemist. I love alchemy and I love the money I make from herbalism. The thought of going Inscription in Wrath, however, is like whispering sweet nothings into the ear of my inner-min/maxer. I want to keep my Redeemer’s Alchemist Stone. I want to continue to be self-sufficient when it comes to my consumables. I also want some of those snacky Holy inscriptions, damnit. This calls for a fast-leveling alt! I know, a hunter!

Azeroth conspires against me, though my needs really are very simple. I want a zone with quest hubs that are logically laid out. I dream of a zone where my time actively questing is not dwarfed by the amount of time I waste in transit. I lust after a zone where I can hunker down and get a couple levels in without needing to hop a taxi twice, or spend more than 20 minutes running in a single sitting.

Azeroth, you suck.

rude(2)

It’s really hard to work up the desire to level my hunter; I’m spoiled by Outlands. The difference between the “new content” and the old is extreme. Both the Blood Elf and Draenei newbie zones are awesome. Quest hubs are well-designed, enabling quest-batching. With twinked bags, I can go out, clear 4 or 5 quests, and come back for turn-ins at about the time my bags started begging for mercy.

After that, level 20 is a slap in the face. I’m really not interested in (re-)exploring the wonders of Azeroth. I don’t need the guided tour. I especially don’t need to run up and down the length of Kalimdor twice because some idiot-NPC decided he wants the special flowers that only grow over there and if he doesn’t get them, he’s not going to give me the next step in the chain which actually gets me something I might want. If one more NPC sends me to another continent for the next step in a chain I’ve already spent 30 minutes in transit for, I’ll scream.

Maybe I should just forget the hunter. I already know I’m going to have to axe something or pay for a transfer if I want to play a Death Knight. Leveling gathering skills from 0 at level 55 will also suck. However, at least I wouldn’t be stuck questing on Azeroth.

SYTYCB: It’s not you, it’s me. Yea, no. Really.

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dwah

Image courtesy of Willrad. This is a SYTYCB submission from Rusco who made it into the top 7. 

rusco-post Hey everyone, Rusco here.

There are only a few things in this game that bother me; super long flight paths, druids inability to crowd control inside most instances while npcs use similar spells without issue, and a warlocks fear. But on the top of the list sits something that doesn’t have to due with coding.

It’s the players. I feel like there are so many ignorant, stupid people that play this game.

It makes me feel elitist, to say the least, when I think of it and I hate it but it’s true. I tend to get frustrated when I’m grouped with other people I didn’t pick and chose to group with. Usually in battlegrounds, I can ignore the people yelling at everyone to give up or making stupid remarks. Unfortunately, it’s a bit harder in raids that I ask to join because I have to keep my ears peeled and my eyes on the screen.

Even in 5-man’s I still come across people that can get to me without actually trying to. Just the other day, I was in a partial pug run through slave pens and make a joke about one of my friends getting himself killed before we met at the entrance when our mage drops group because he didn’t like my attitude. I can almost understand, I’m generally sarcastic in my humor and if you’re coming from the point of view that all people are out to hurt one another then yea, I could have come off a wicked jerk. But this guy knows me in real life, we’ve played tabletop rpgs for two years. We’re not close, but it was a shock to see him react that way to something he should recognize as playful not harmful.

Slightly less specific, a good friend of mine has a podcast about world of warcraft and one of their usual features is “Real Noobs of Warcraft” and I badgered him until he included an idea of mine called the “back-seat raid leader.” Now that’s something that really gets me in raids. When someone other than the raid leader starts spouting off commands or details, especially when someone asks a question directed to the RL, I throw my head back and groan. It’s like, “Yea, we all know you’ve been around since beta or whenever. We know you’ve got experience in this game. But you’re not the boss. Stfu. Srsly.”

Speaking of raids, is it too much to ask to have people arrive in a timely fashion and packing all the heat they can bring? I don’t think it’s too hard to find out what elixirs, food, reagents, potions, scrolls, weapon buffs, or whatever else you can use during combat that can benefit the raid as a whole. Sure, that may seem like a lot of stuff to remember but it doesn’t take much effort to check to see if you have what you need and if not to go get it. Not enough gold? One run through the Sunwell dailies and you’re good to go. What’s the problem there?

Now, I come from a casual guild, so it’s not required of anyone to be über prepared but I just don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to make sure the raid does it’s utmost best. I’m taking my time, but I plan on having what every class/spec needs for raiding because I’m sick of complaining and maybe then no one will have an excuse to skimp out. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy doing the research and work, but I hate hate hate that I come across so few that will actually do it for themselves.

Don’t get me started on people who don’t know how to play their class. I’ve heard a horror story from a good friend of mine coming across a shaman that didn’t know what a totem was.

World of Warcraft brings in so many different walks of life and luckily there are really cool, smart people that play this game. I just wish I could play with them, rather than just read their blog. Maybe I’m just being overly pessimistic but I think I’m either getting the short end of the stick or I’m just crazy.

A Note about Doomsday Raiding and Multiple Authors

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It just occurred to me that a lot of readers tend to skip over anything that’s italicized. As a result, if you read the Doomsday Raiding column this morning that was written by my Guildmate Aylii you might’ve missed that subtle fact. Although there were some particularly stinging comments directed towards me, I definitely will not shy away from them.

Aylii came to me late last night and raised some points about it. I encouraged her to run with the idea and I’d help her make any technical edits and formatting along the way. I couldn’t pen the post myself as I was already committed to a last minute Karazhan and Arena point earning (which by the way culminated in Brutal Gladiator’s Mail Leggings for my Elemental Shaman and Brutal Gladiator’s Mooncloth Gloves for my Priest).

I’m delighted at the discussion that’s happening. One camp’s just shrugging it off and believe it isn’t going to be a big deal. The other thinks that it’s something worth stopping and pausing over.

My personal belief? Whether or not there are sweeping changes, I will welcome them with open arms and adjust to them as necessary. I’ve never really been one to complain about changes to classes or gear or what not. I’d discuss it, analyze it and try to give a thoughtful opinion about it. But I’ve always been one to accept changes to the game without fuss. Because I know that despite how much I may hate changes, I will always be a fan of this game and I know I will play this game for a long time. Even Starcraft 2 will only hold my interest for so long before I come back to WoW because so far no other game has offered the type of experience that WoW offers.

So I can either spend my time depressed about the patch or I can spend it constructively and devise new tricks to take advantage of it. And that is the way of Matticus.

Back to the post, I probably should have spent more time editing it and back checking it myself. My fault entirely and I certainly deserve all the criticism mentioned in the post. Everyone makes mistakes except when I make mistakes, it’s viewed by over 1500 people =D.

Identity Crisis

I’ve had difficulties in the past trying to ensure that guest bloggers and writers would get the proper credit they deserve. A post by Wyn announcing open season recruiting by her guild had readers think that it was Carnage which was recruiting (Matt’s guild).

Currently, I’m experimenting with a WordPress plugin called Post Avatar which would give authors the ability to embed a picture or a graphic to their post to help visually differentiate it even further. Italicizing and other text effects have failed me. I want to make sure that anyone who writes and anyone’s work who I showcase gets the proper credit that they deserve. I toyed with the idea of setting up individual accounts for people, but for security and practical reasons I shot that down. I may yet revisit that idea later on.

guest-post Ergo, I’ve decided to (at least as a temporary measure) append a little graphic in the corner of guest posts to serve as a gentle reminder that although it’s a damn thumpin’ good post, it’s not written by me.

(Mental reminder to crop out the whitespace on the left and top part of the image)

Guest posts right now usually have a little emphasized blurb at the top along with a link back to the original author’s blog, if applicable. Right now, if I were to publish a guest post, it would say that I have written it. Again, for practical purposes, it’s being served under my administrative account even though I was not the original author.

Now let’s hope it works!

On another side note, I hoped you’ve enjoyed today’s SYTYCB posts! You’ll be getting 3 more tomorrow with the remaining 2 on Thursday!

My raid’s been cancelled tonight which is a mixed blessing for me. That does give me ample time to work on the 3.0 version of Matticus, however.

Cheers and have a good evening!

SYTYCB: The Last Piece of Loot

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This is a SYTYCB submission from Crutch who made it into the top 7.

crutch-post “Of course,” I sigh as I pick up my badges, trying to ignore the other loot as it taunts me with its very presence. I walk away, moving on tothe next boss, just a little disappointed.

I’ve been running full Karazhan clears every week since the beginning of February. I’ve downed this boss 29 (TWENTY-NINE!) times, and I’ve only seen it drop once. And that time I lost the roll!

“I want this nightmare to be over!”

It seems like everyone has a story about some piece of loot that just won’t drop for them. That elusive item that you’ve hunted for hours, weeks, months, maybe even years, and it still hasn’t dropped. You’ve farmed this item so long that the anticipation of clicking on the corpse is just a little painful, even as fighting the actual monster is trivial. You know all of its tricks, you just want that little icon to appear when you click on the corpse. As the mob loses its last percent of health and it falls over dead, you’re torn. Do you pray the treasure would finally just drop already, or do you try to keep yourself from believing, hoping to avoid the feeling of disappointment when it inevitably doesn’t?

Maybe you’re a prot paladin, running Shattered Halls well past the point of getting Exalted with Thrallmar, all for a Figurine of the Colossus. Maybe you’re a hunter in yet another pug, praying that Gruul will finally drop your Dragonspine Trophy (and, while you’re at it, that you’ll beat all the other hunters, rogues, and fury warriors on the roll!) Perhaps you’re the rogue on top of the DKP list for your guild, and you just want Illidan to drop his Warglaive of Azzinoth. It might be that you’re running Black Morass for the 20th time looking for Hourglass of the Unraveller, or maybe you’re just hoping that those Scarlet Spellbinders will finally, finally give up the Enchant Weapon – Crusader.

Me, I’m a holy paladin. Our guild is 4/5 MH 4/9 BT, but I’m still running Karazhan every week, and not just for badges. No, every week, as we kill Illhoof, kill the four spell shades at the top of the next ramp, and turn to those cursed library doors, I think to myself “Ok, Nielas Aran, are you finally going to give me my Pendant of the Violet Eye?” I spend those two or three suspense filled, excruciating, boring minutes dodging blizzards, not moving on flame wreaths, dodging arcane explosions, healing a little harder through the elemental spawn. Long gone are the days where we worry about him running out of mana, and having to bubble through a pyroblast. The accursed Shade drops, and I drink, waiting for our raid leader to announce that maybe, this week, it dropped. But, no, another Saberclaw Talisman and Shermanar Great-Ring to shard later, and we’re on to Netherspite.

“I’m not even sure I want it anymore!” I yell at the screen, frustrated.

Maybe I should get in on an SSC pug and get Sextant of Unstable Currents, or TK for Fel Reaver’s Piston. “It’s not that good,” I mutter angrily, trying to convince myself that what I have is>enough. And maybe it is “enough”… but it’s not what I want.

So next week, I’ll go down that familiar hallway past Curator, past Illhoof, to that ill-fated progenitor of Medivh for the 30th time.

Will it drop?

Or will I sigh, loot my two badges, and leave again, just a little more disappointed?

Tell me, oh readers, of your tales of RNG woe and let us commiserate together.

SYTYCB: The Dark Side: Expansion Syndrome

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darkside

tulani-postThis is a SYTYCB submission from Tulani who made it into the top 7.

I remember back in September of last year, I was talking to a friend of mine. He had raided through Naxx pre-BC, and at the time resided in my hardcore progression guild. We were discussing the unnamed expansion, and he warned me of something that at the time, I didn’t – nay, couldn’t – believe, in my limited BC-only raiding experience. Now, however, it’s more than a reality; it’s an epidemic.

Expansionitus.

That’s right, I said it. I said what so many of us in our “expansion craze” refuse to acknowledge.

There is absolutely nothing that makes me want to scream more than pre-expansion lull. The length of time to get five people together increases to unbearable standards, and god forbid you try to slap a raid into a cohesive class balance. Recruitment slows to a crawl, and the only sign of life in your previously loudmouth guild is the discussion of what’s to come. Everyone turns to the future while shunning the present.

I’m talking to you. You, who’s read everything you can on the new expansion, and now you’re biding your time, leveling alts, and saving up your money, ready to sprint right up to the top all over again. In the meantime though, you’ve grown bored of this version, and you’ve started showing up less and less, and when you do, you couldn’t be more uninterested. And your attitude drags everyone else down with you.

Oh, you thought the quitters were the worst? No, it’s you – the player who’s far too lazy to put in the effort they did a few months ago, but still hang around anyway. You, the member who, had you acted like this before, would have been kicked without a second thought. These members litter raiding guilds as the expansion nears; as an officer, you won’t believe how infuriating it is to deal with the victims of this plague. Well, I’m here to administer the vaccine, and a swift kick to the behind:

Expansion isn’t for months. That’s months of new raids, months of new content, months of new kills.

Allow me to backtrack a second here: I am every bit as eager for a new haircut as the next girl, and there is nothing wrong with preparing and being excited. Expansion will surely be great, and with all the buzz, it doesn’t take an analyst to see how much it dwarfs what we currently play. However, I have goals which I need to see accomplished before I can enjoy something new.

My aspiration? To /dance on Kil’Jaeden’s corpse, plain and simple. I mean, it seems easy enough. You’d think with guilds who have cleared the majority of the game, the only way to go is forward, right? Wrong. Let me tell you my abbreviated story: the looming expansion has hit my guild smack in the face, right after we killed Mu’ru, the “hardest boss in the game.” And I’m not alone. I’m not the only guild experiencing the all-too-common symptoms: the sudden disappearances, the lack of concentration, the endless burnout… but one boss from the end? Your attitude, Mr. Waiting-For-Expansion, is a slap in the face not only to current members, but to everyone who’s given all they have to get us where we are today.

“But Lani, it’s all for nothing anyway. In a few short months, everything you do now won’t matter.”

Allow me to read this for what it really is: in a few months, all that nice gear, and your top dog reputation, will be insignificant, and you can’t handle that. Did you not join your guild saying that the joy is in the journey, not in the epics? It’s another reminder of how a lot of people lie on that question, and unfortunately, it’s those very people that see that the physical gain is going to be worthless, and they’re jumping ship quick. But me, I have a need to kill this big stinking Eredar, for pride, for completion. I don’t want to be “That Guild,” who we’ve all heard about when we’re clearing trash. The “yeah, we almost killed C’Thun, then Beta came out” guild.

We all know Expansionitus isn’t a real disease. It’s simply people who choose to lose sight of the world around them as they sit on their thumbs and wait for a new one. Maybe you’re already sneaking off from raids or your arena teams, or just showing up and watching some ESPN until it’s over. Maybe, like me listening to my guildmate long ago, you just don’t believe it. Wise up. If you want to have anything to come back to in Wrath, then when it comes time for your daily dose of raiding, do those 24 other people who rely on you a favor and pay attention.

So come on. This is the current game. Let’s finish it.