News and Opinion

Ladies and gentlemen! Today is a very special day! World of Matticus is holding the ultimate debate! Your guest debaters are world renowned for their egos and have a combine experience of over 20 years and share over 200 levels of WoW playing!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Today’s topic is a question that has confronted many WoW players, strained relationships, and has toppled many raiding Guilds.

"If given the opportunity, should I leave my Guild for one that is more progressively advanced?"

Before we go further, let us examine the backgrounds of our 2 speakers!

Matticus: He is a law student, a writer, and a competitive player who answers to but only one ethos: reason. He is guided by facts and evidence. From the information, he weighs the choices to decide is the better way to go. He shoots for the best possible outcome. He is willing to roll the dice and gamble because he is willing to take risks and come out ahead. Every movement, every action, every thought has a purpose behind it.

He will be arguing for the "Aye" side.

Mallet: He is one of the star quarterback healers for the Carnage organization. He logs enormous minutes trying to keep his friends and companions in play and alive. Mallet is fiercely loyal to his friends and to his companions. The choices made by him tend to reflect what is best for the group as he is a self sacrificing individual who will do what is asked of him in order to progress and get far. To describe in two words, Mallet would be considered a "team player".

He will be arguing for the "Nay" side.

The rules for this debate? There are none. Each side will present its points and then attempt to argue down their respective opponent.

Matticus

Given the opportunity, you should. The fact that you’re even wrestling with and considering this question proves your internal and intrinsic desire to see more of the game. It’s also obvious your Guild doesn’t seem to have what it takes to elevate their play to the next level. Why should I stick around if all they’re going to do is run nothing but Kara, heroics, and Gruul all week long? It’s getting boring and stale. I’ve done this for so long. I deserve better then that.

Mallet

But yer’ missin’ the poin’ here, laddie! Yeh’ve levelled ter 70 wi’ th’ same crew! Wan’t that the reason why ye stayed in yer guild fer so long? Who cares about yer progression and your "gettin’ ahead" game? Yeh’ve been playing this game for so long with tha same peeple that they’re practically family! Would ya dare tern ye’r back on them after so long? It’d be akin to slappin’ them across their face wit’ troll feces! Do yeh honestly think they’d take kindly to THAT now?

Matticus

They don’t share the same dreams that I do. They no longer have the same goals that I do. Why should I stick around in an organization that no longer has the same ideals that I have? We’ll still be in the same server. I will still check in on them from time to time. The internet and this game provides anonymity. I will be forgotten the next day over, anyway. I’m being HELD back by my friends! They would have no problem picking up another player to replace me!

Mallet

And thas’ where yer wrong, lad! You are the cornerstone of the guild. If ye leave now, it will fall apar’ and collapse! No one, Dwarf, Dranei, Human, or otherwise can completely replace anyone. Ye’r unique! Yer friends will feel betrayed if you leave them now! Do you really wan’ them to go through the pain of losing you, the jealousy? Don’ do that to them! You owe it to them to stay a bi’ longer! It’s what they’d wan’ yanno!

Matticus

And what about what I want? Why do I always have to cater to them? I’ve worked long and hard to get this point. They stopped trying! I don’t want a Guild full of goddamn slackers. You think they really are friends? They’re more like business associates. Real friends wouldn’t make you feel guilty about staying behind. Real friends would encourage you to chase after your dreams and what you want to do! They wouldn’t feel envious or jealous. They might feel sad, I’m sure, but I know real friends would be proud of what I’d do!

Mallet

*quietly* Even if tha’ means forsakin’ yer friends, then? Is’ a huge commitmen’ ye know. Ye realize that if ye’ go through with it, a lo’ of  things will change. Ye’ won’t be able to catch as much PvP time or hang out with them as much. Because yeh’d have a duty ter yer new guild. Yeh’d have more responsibilities. The expectations increase. The pressure goes up. Do yeh really think yeh’d want that? Ye won’ be able to see the same crew.

Matticus

The only constant in the universe is change. If I lose friends because of something petty like this, then I’ll adapt and make new ones. For some reason, people have this stupid idea that changing Guilds is an absolute. If you join one, you’re absolutely forbidden from hanging out with the old. Assuming both guilds are on the same server, then it’s no problem. You can still hang out with them from time to time. No one says you can’t switch vents every now and again and hang out with them. Being in different Guilds doesn’t mean it has to be mutually exclusive.

Mallet

And if ye were banished? Wha’ then?

Matticus

I would be saddened, but I would understand. If they choose to expel me because I intend to go after what I want, then I can think of no better reason. Friends come and go on a daily basis. Think about the transition from high school to university. How many friends have you lost then? How many friends have you made since then? The ability to adapt is what allowed our species to survive to this day.

Mallet

Ye don’ even know if this progression guild will even accept ye! Yeh be let in on a raid one day and kicked out tha next. No stability. Yeh’d have to relearn everything. Yer DKP would start at 0. Yeh’d be considered at the bottom of the food chain.

Matticus

The fact that they made me an offer proves that they want me and my skills. They’ve given me the opportunity to show off what I can do. I’d be crazy not to take them on it.

Mallet

Yeh’d leave a lot of good people behind and be lettin’ them down, ye realize.

This is the same argument that has replayed in my mind countless of times ever since I left my old Guild. Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened had I stayed. That same Guild collapsed a few weeks later before splintering off into two different Guilds while I watched from the sides. I can’t help but wonder if I was directly responsible. Maybe that Guild would be at the same progression point I’m at now if I stayed a bit longer. I’ll never know. 

But life is like a game of poker. You can only play the cards that you’ve been dealt resulting in winning big pots or losing your shirt.

One of the few activities in life that I’ve never given up since getting out of high school is reading. I’m not referring to sitting on your butt in front of the screen reading blogs all day. I mean actually reading a book in a coffee shop or on your couch or on your patio on a sunny day. Anyway, the latest book I’ve started reading is called Brain Rules (12 principles for surviving and thriving at Work, Home, and school) by John Medina. It’s a great book and I encourage everyone to see if they can pick up a copy from their local library. There’s lot of great concepts in there that apply in almost every situation.

If you’re a guild leader, a raid leader, a class leader, an officer, a healing leader, or someone in any kind of authoritative position that the rest of the guild looks to, then the story here becomes that much more relevant.

The Story

In the book, there’s a brief story by a flight instructor and his student. This student of his was a literal ace. She kicked total ass on the ground in all of the classes. She beat the simulations and dominated her courses. Her practical lessons in the sky showed she had a knack for flying was listed as a natural with the ability to improvise in different weather conditions.

The instructor was having a bad day during one of these lessons. He saw her do something completely naive. He yelled at her and pushed her hands away from the plane’s yoke (a steering wheel for planes, I believe. He pointed at an instrument, still angry. The student was stunned and she tried to fix her errors. But you and I both know that stress causes more errors. She wasn’t able to think as clearly. When you’re flying in a plane, that alone can prove to be fatal. She started crying and buried her head in her hands. The instructor assumed control of the plane and landed it without any more incident.

And for the longest time, the student would not get back into the same cockpit.

Did I mention how much I love this web app yet? Several days ago, I posted my thoughts on the new information released about Wrath of the Lich King. The night after, I went to a birthday party with a few friends. Some of them were former WoW players and they asked me if there was anything in the expansion worth coming back for.

I told them Arthas is now 10 mannable. They were stunned. Immediately, I could tell they didn’t believe that the fight would be "epic" enough with only 10 players. This lead me to ask a quick question on Twitter to my WoW playing colleagues:

Question: What makes an encounter, raid or otherwise, considered "epic"?

As you can see, no one player or blogger mentioned anything about player limits. The "epicness" of an encounter falls solely on Blizzard and how their design team is going to set up the bosses in raids. I’m willing to bet Arthas and Malygos will truly be memorable fights on their own whether they’re fought in 10 or 25 mans.

Gamespy just unveiled a whole bunch of new information about the upcoming WoW expansion. There’s a lot more information about the Death Knight, Northrend, and instancing in general.

Northrend

• Players to have optional and different starting zones
• "Not just be a land of ice and snow."
• Way bigger than Outland
• Un’Goro makes a return
• Flying mounts unlocked at level 77

Matt’s Reaction

Good. It was hard enough for me to kill stuff as it as a Disc/Holy Priest when I turned 70 in Hellfire without having all my kills get tagged. These screenshots are beeeeautiful. I always thought of Northrend as a big giant popsicle. Glad to see Blizz is varying up the location. Flying mounts will be used for levelling at 77+.

Raiding and Instancing

• All raid instances will have both 10 person and 25 person versions
• 10 and 25 versions will be on separate cooldowns (Can play in a 10 man earlier in the day and a 25 later)
• At level 80, every major encounter and boss fight can be experienced with a group of 10
• Heroic dungeons in WotLK will have separate loot tables than their non-heroic versions
• Another Troll instance or zone: The temple of Zul’Drak

Matt’s Reaction

Very good move by Blizzard. Karazhan is the most popular raid instance in the game by sheer difficulty level and accessibility. It is a lot more difficult to find players for a 25 player instance than a 10. I don’t see what the high end guilds will have to complain about. If anything, there is now more stuff for them to do. The 25 player loot will be substantially be more greater than the 10s. I’m curious to see how that will be pulled off. But either way, loot is loot. This will provide a great alternative from having to farm copious amounts of "Frozen Primals" or something.

In any case, us elitist Guilds still get our fun and challenge. The casual players will get their fill by being able to experience every raid dungeon in the game. You can even 10 man Arthas.

I’m also glad Blizzard learned more about their badge system. It was a great idea to have in TBC, but the incentives were just bad. Magister’s Terrace proved that Blizzard is willing to adapt new principles by separating loot tables.

Lore

• Malygos, dragon leader of the Blue flight, makes an appearance
• Worgen and sons of Arugal return
• New encounter based on a Warcraft III mission (Helping Arthas destroy Stratholme?)
• P.E.T.A. makes an appearance known as D.H.E.T.A.

Matt’s Reaction

Eh, I approve. I’ve always liked Blizzard lore. I’ve followed a lot of it since the original Warcraft. I wonder what other easter eggs we’ll see in the game. Hopefully we’ll get to see some SG-1 references at some point.

Death Knight

• Can apparently turn dead teammates into ghouls (Necromancers in Guild Wars)
• Starts at Level 55, available to any player with a 55+ character
• Starts at a Necropolis over EPL
• Can Dual Wield
• Are not double racials (Undead/Gnome, for instance)
• Every race can be a Death Knight
• The Tanking DK relies on parrying (2H tank for real?)

Matt’s Reaction

2 Hand tanking. This is going to be amazing. Just about everyone in the Guild will have a Death Knight now. The ghoul ability can even be used in arena. Imagine a team with Druids, Hunters, Mages, and other classes with pets (or the stupid mini Gnome trinket). The alternative will be an Enhancement Shaman variation. This will be very good news for Guilds with cheap tanks. Now they don’t have to spend copious amounts of gold to constantly respec their character. They can simply load up the right runes in order to satisfy whatever role they need to fulfill.

Vehicle System

• Ability to drive stuff around and interact with people or objects
• Gamespy Example: Players will fly over a human settlement being overrun with the Scourge, lowering a ladder down to pull up and rescue civilians. In one dungeon instance, players will be able to "liberate" some blue dragons that they can mount up and fly around, fighting their way up a massive tower.
• You can ride a mammoth which has it’s own combat abilities

Matt’s Reaction

This has to be the most coolest part of the expansion. Have you wished that you were able to shoot missiles at other players on their mounts? It seems like this might be possible in the expansion.

I’m really excited about the expansion now. I can’t wait!

 
Image courtesy of weirdvis

Dearest DPS,

We’ve had a wonderful relationship over the years. I’ve enjoyed your care and watchful eyes that you’ve had over me. But lately, I’ve found my feelings to be hurt on multiple occasions. Your words, once supportive and kind, have begun to sting more often. I appreciate all the advice and the criticism that you’ve given to me lately on the hardships we’ve had to overcome so that we can work together more effectively as a team. As we’ve continued in our affairs together into exotic locations like Black Temple and Mount Hyjal, your words have slowly been falling upon deaf ears.

You’ve been telling me lately that I’ve been doing things wrong or incorrectly. You’ve made fun of my friends and comrades who have done their best. I’ve held your hands and have never let go.

I can’t be the only one feeling this way especially after reading the scathing notes you’ve sent me:

• That I just couldn’t keep you up anymore
• Questioning my endurance
• Faking everything
• Doing it incorrectly

I can no longer accept this! I will not take this kind of abuse from you any longer. I have stood quiet in the shadows ever so obedient and mindlessly accepting your words. Why do you berate me so on the tasks we have done multiple times? Why do you continue to insist on giving advice to healers that know what they are doing? Why do you point fingers at us first like scolding a child taking a cookie from a jar?

We know the job that needs to be done. Do you? Do you not realize relationships take 2 in order to work? It has to be mutual! You sit there on the couch pressing the same buttons day in and day out expecting us to support your lifestyle without any effort from you whatsoever!

I grow tired and weary. I will settle for you telling me the objective that needs to be done and I will take care of it. But don’t you dare tell me who to heal and who to stay away from. I believe I’m a better judge of that than you! If you keep insisting on blaming me and my friends for your inexcusable mistakes, then our relationship will be have to be reexamined again!