The Five Forms of Failure

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Through the game of World of Warcraft, you will encounter frequent references involving the word fail. The usage has evolved to the point now where there are multiple types of fail which each have different meanings. As a gamer, it is now more important than ever to be able to distinguish between the various failings that people commit so that the you can make fun of them in an appropriate way.

You Fail

This type of fail is commonly directed to individuals. They commit an act that has made others around them wince. Although it is by no means the end of the world, at most, the effects will be a minor inconvenience to them and to others around them.

Examples: Hearthing back to Shattrath because they forgot gear or consumables.

Usage: WOW, you FAIL!

The Horrible Fail

An action that is a horrible fail is generally not considered far reaching or of any consequence. The fact that “you horribly fail” is attributed to a person’s skill at doing something (or more commonly, not doing something). For whatever reason, despite numerous attempts at coaching and teaching, the person is not able to step up to the level that is expected of them for the entire group to proceed.

Examples: Inability to click cubes, inability to run away from players when you are the “bomb”.

Usage: That pug group last night had some serious horrible fail going on.

The Massive Fail

Typically, the massive fail is directed at organizations instead of players. Perhaps the guild has worked on a boss for a massively long time. The massive fail is a representation of the leadership’s inability to accomplish anything meaningful. One way to tell if a Guild is massive fail is to observe their guild ad in the trade channel.

Starting Karazhan? Cool.
Have a Guild website? Perfect.
Ventrilo server? Nice.

But then they add something at the end along the likes of “we haz tabard!”

Honestly, is there nothing better to add to your ad then saying you have a tabard? That’s like my future fortune 500 company saying we’re experimenting exponential growth, 250% sales increase over the past 2 years, and that we have a logo!

But I digress.

Example: A revolving door guild that continuously attracts and loses players.

Usage: It’s a wonder how they got down Gruul with such massive fail going around.

The Failboat

Unlike the other fails, the failboat is an expression of a type of failure that has yet to occur. It’s described as a premonition or a feeling of foreshadowing. You don’t quite know what is going to happen, but you can’t shake the dread from your system.

Example: Having “that guy” in your raid, or noticing that you have a blue geared player in your Hyjal raid.

Usage: All aboard the failboat!

The Epic Fail

Lastly, but definitely in no way the least is the epic fail. Unfortunately, current society has thrown around the epic fail phrase for so long that they have forgotten the true nature and meaning of the epic fail! The epic fail is a form of failure where redemption is nigh impossible to achieve. An epic fail is a failure that only the most esteemed of failees can earn. The epic failure is of such failness that all matter moves away from them so as to not be associated.

And despite popular belief, not even the shields on the flagship of Admiral Ackbar can withstand the failpower of such magnitude.

Examples: A Warlock on a progression raid getting locked outside the doors of Illidrai council only to witness the 24 players within downing the boss while he gets a front row seat to the door of fail.

Usage: You’ll recognize it when you see it.

One Way to Piss Off a Blogger (Don’t Do It)

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commenting-fail

This comment is what prompted the comment policy I posted earlier. Allow me to illustrate the transgressions (Note: Click image to enlarge).

This is a screenshot from my dashboard showing the same comment posted in two different places. The title is a great way for a reader to know what they are getting into. In this case, the writer makes a case against raiding and wishes to publicize the post and attract feedback as well as traffic.

Unfortunately, a quick mouseover on which posts he comments on reveals that he pasted this on a short piece I did when I was dueling Wyn.

What on earth does a post on raiding have to do with a duel I had with Wyn?

Absolutely nothing!

Another point I want to address is the use of URL masking. Don’t get me wrong now, I love the service that TinyURL provides. Twitter followers will notice that I use them extensively when I tweet. However, this is mainly due to the 140 character restriction that Twitter has in place.

It’s not necessary to do that in a comment. Having a full length URL offers interested readers to at least know what they’re clicking on. For all we know, the masked link could lead to a merchant site or worse: A keylogging website.

On a completely different note, Blog Azeroth is a fairly tight knit community. So allow me to offer a word of advice for new bloggers. If you’re trying to break into the community, it’s generally a smart idea not to piss off bloggers on a grand scale. I’ve been told off the record that a significant number of bloggers have flagged the user’s comments above as spam. Some have even taken measures to block the IP address. I personally don’t care about sending this guy traffic. There’s no direct link here and only a few would even Google the clues I left open in the image. I have a feeling that most readers would go there once and then never return. The cost of traffic is outweighed by the hope that I can educate our younger bloggers on the proper practice of commenting and social interaction.

Although I wrote briefly before about the importance of reputation in WoW, that pales in comparison when you’re a blogger trying to establish yourself. Your reputation is dependant on the image you paint of yourself via comments and contents. Do not underestimate the social responsibilities that blogging brings. If you fail to recognize and respect this aspect of blogging, expect to crash and burn.

Matt’s Commenting Policy

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In the past week, I’ve seen a slight increase in the amount of comments I usually I get. You may not see them because either Wyn or I will shut them out. Then it struck me like a Chain Lightning. I should clarify my stance on comments on my blog so that people will know what will fly and what will not.

I know many readers tend to ignore comments on posts. Others like to immerse themselves in the post and any followup information after the fact for more gems of knowledge that would benefit them.

On the other side of the fence, there are bloggers who have a loose leash on the types of comments that they allow. I’m also aware of other prominent bloggers who tighten up their commenting to the point where a SWAT team would have to work just to even say something.

Now both perspectives have their merits and their disadvantages. Every blogger has their own standards and far be it from me to tell what other bloggers to do (hint: open it up). Some readers like to include a link or attach a text signature indicating who they are. Some allow cursing and others don’t.

So here’s what’s cool on Matt’s blog. Treat these as guidelines.

  1. Feel free to comment on anything – Commenting is a method for readers to communicate to the blogger and to other readers. A blog post that I write or that Wyn writes only serves as a conversation sparker. It’s up to the readers to decide if it’s something that’s worth their 2 cents. I don’t ever want anyone to not comment because they felt unwelcome. Any reader is welcome to comment on my blog. It makes no difference to me if you’ve just started playing WoW 3 hours ago on a Priest and you googled my page or if you’re a veteran Sunwell raider that has enough experience to give me pause. I say again, you are welcome to contribute regardless of your class, race, level, and whatnot.
  2. Irrelevant links will be deleted on sight – But this does not apply to all links. The bottom line on linking is that it’s the bread and butter way for other bloggers to gain exposure to other material on the blogosphere. I want to say for the record that I wholeheartedly encourage you to link to your posts in my comments on my blog. Seriously, how will I know if you’ve written something brilliant? I wish I had the time in the world to visit everyone’s blog and read what they write but I don’t. I rely on other bloggers and word of mouth. However, if your link is completely irrelevant to the post that I’ve written then I will toast it. If you do this repeatedly on multiple posts, then some more severe sanctions will take place.
  3. Relevant links are good – I want to see more –  Now, if you want to plug a post that you’ve written that has some relevance to a post that I’ve written, then by all means go ahead. I have no problems with anyone doing that. You should be proud of what you’re writing and I think I speak for everyone when I say multiple perspectives are always good. Blogging is a conversational tool. We write in response to what others write. Everyone wins because we all add to the discussion.
  4. Spam will get nuked – Any kind of enlargement services, or finance related things, or gambling, or WoW gold will get shot pretty fast. My spam filters are usually pretty good. If anything does make it through, it doesn’t stay up very long.
  5. Sigs are cool – I notice a fair number of you like to tag yourself at the bottom of a post with your character name, level and realm. Power to you guys! I can’t find fault in that in any way. I have a Commentluv plugin installed which links back to your latest blog post (if you have one)
  6. Attack the writing but not the writer – If you want to critique a post or correct myself or Wyn on a fact or a figure that we got wrong, by all means please do! It’s a similar philosophy in WoW where I will only attack a WoW player’s WoW playing ability. I will never attack the player personally. If I have a problem with you, it’s almost always technical related. Remember, I don’t have problems with WoW players. I have problems with the WoW playing. I’d like to see that same stance adopted here. It personally doesn’t bug me whenever someone says that “oh you’ve lost my respect Matt”. Who knows how many people I’ve annoyed and ticked off already. Don’t get me wrong, if for whatever reason I’ve lost your faith, I’d like to know why and to see if there’s anything I can do about it that wouldn’t jeopardize who am I as an individual or what this blog stands for. Simply put, I cannot change myself to make one person happy.
  7. But go easy on the guest posters – Guest posters are just that: Guests. These are individuals who wanted to try their hand at blogging and I’ve allowed them to do so here to change it up every once in a while. I have no problem with you disagreeing. Wyn, Syd and I often disagree with each other but we know how to communicate. Before you hit the post button, re-read what you write and see if it’s something you’re willing to say to someone face to face. You can express your opinions without coming across as a mean spirited ass.
  8. Some swearing – But easy on the F’s, okay? Self censorship encouraged.
Some last words

Remember that when you leave a comment, every letter, every word, and every thought you put down creates a lasting impression on the blogger and to their readers. What you comment on another person’s blog can easily make or break their reputation. They are a tribute to your ideals and your beliefs. Once they get painted negatively, it’s not easy to turn back. It’s simple to go from a positive light to a negative impression. But it is much more difficult to go from a hated blogger to a loved blogger.

Please do take the time to ensure that the comment you leave is a reflection of the individual that you are. Keep this in mind the next time you decide to comment on any blog not just my own.

The Mana Efficient Priest

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mana-efficient 
Image courtesy of Xanderalex What do you think mana-pots taste like, anyway? I vote for blue-raspberry kool-aid.

Note: I wrote this piece BEFORE the news announcement about down-ranking spells in WotLK. I anticipate that this will make a tremendous impact on mana-regen, along with the possibility of debuffs like Potion Sickness, and I look forward to finding out how new talents like Serendipity help mitigate this situation. (I’m not specc’d into Serendipity right now on the Beta, mostly because Matt says it doesn’t work yet.)

In the 2.4 game mechanics, mana-regen for any class whose relevant stats include spirit is nothing short of phenomenal. Still, some of my colleagues occasionally have trouble making it through particularly intense fights with only self-sufficient regen tools. I’m of the philosophy that in most situations, Holy Priests can and should keep their own mana up just fine. If you are having trouble doing that, here are some troubleshooting tips for improving your own self-sufficiency:

When You’re The Problem
  • Forgetting your CD (cooldown) rotation. Do you wait to take a Mana Pot until you’re nearly out of mana? Do you keep an eye on your Trinket, Shadow Fiend, and Inner Focus cooldowns and use them all to their fullest potential? Be honest with yourself, and if you know you could be getting more out of your built-in tools, either find a mod to monitor them for you, or move them to a more visible portion of your UI.
  • Over-extending yourself. If your assignment is to heal parties 3 & 4, but you find yourself topping off the tanks and sneaking heals onto the melee, you’re probably just trying to give your best effort to your raid – and that impulse is good. What’s NOT good is that you’re under-serving the players you’re supposed to be protecting – and if they take sudden damage while you’re in the middle of casting a heal, even as a best-case scenario they’ll have to wait at least a 1.5 second cast or a GCD to get the heal that they’re supposed to be getting from you. This means some other healer is probably going to have to pick up YOUR slack. Even if you’re carefully monitoring your assignment, healing where you’re not supposed to gives an unrealistic experience to the healers that you’re “helping.” Sure, you know that FoL-spamming isn’t enough to keep up the MT, but that loladin that’s supposed to keep him alive will never figure it out if you keep sprinkling in ProM, G.heals, and Renews. You’re robbing him, and your guild, of that Pally’s chance to become a better healer.
  • Improper gear optimization. Let’s face it, no one cares that your Greater Heal will hit for an average of 6k if you’re oom and can’t cast it. You don’t need 2,000 unbuffed +healing to heal Karazhan. (Or Kael, for that matter, and I have screenshots to prove it.) No matter what level of content you’ve reached, continuing to stack +heal after being fully capable of healing the incoming damage for your current raid content comes at the expense of other stats. This means objectively evaluating the stats YOU need for gems, enchants, or on relatively equivalent pieces of gear. (For example, T6 offers two healing staves – the Apostle of Argus (Archimonde) or the Staff of Immaculate Recovery (Bloodboil). The Apostle has more +heal, but the IR has balanced Spirit and Mp5. You need to be able to decide which stats will make the greatest impact on your gameplay.)
  • Poor consumables. Raiding isn’t cheap. If you don’t want to spend the money on the best enchants, gems, and consumables you shouldn’t be running end-game content. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be playing WoW, just that you need to find some other less resource-intensive passion within the game. Know what your options are, and don’t try to cheap out. The repair bills and nights of frustration end up being more expensive, anyway. So if the flasks you should be using are pre-BC, and the food you need to eat is rare, and the pots you ought to use don’t come from a freebie quest reward…. Suck it up, use the premium consumables, and see what a difference a few little things will make in your mana-return.
  • Overhealing. If you don’t downrank your spells, you’re burning extra mana. There is absolutely no reason to cast a 6k heal on someone taking 1k hits who is only missing 2k health. Overshoot it by the incoming 1k damage, throw a 3k heal on them, and spend the 2-300 mana you just saved on someone else.
When Something Else Is The Problem
  • Poor class make up for the fight. Because Priests CAN do any healing job, frequently the burdens of under- or incorrect staffing fall on our shoulders. We’re the only class who can always pick up the slack. There’s not much you can do about this during a raid, but afterwards, approach your healing leader, raid leader, or GM with solutions – Maybe a healer-friend who would be an excellent addition to the roster, or a positioning strategy that would help lessen the strain.
  • Poor group composition. Some fights, until you gear-soak a bit, you really just need a mana battery. If you don’t have a Shadow Priest, or a Shaman with a Mana-totem, ask for one. Check around with friends who have done the same fight, and see if they’re getting some kind of support that you’re not.
  • Re-speccing. I’m assuming you’re a Priest as you read this. If your guild can’t decide whether you should be Improved Spirit or CoH, know that both healing-styles are different enough to affect your mana regen. Auz over at ChickGM is a dyed-in-the-wool IDS priest, and averages 65% of her time in the 5SR. As CoH Spec, I spend upwards of 85% of my time “casting.” That is a HUGE difference in non-casting mana regen, and makes Mp5 more valuable to me as a stat than it is to Auz, EVEN THOUGH WE’RE BOTH HOLY PRIESTS. You can’t control wishy-washy raid leadership, but keep a couple extra trinkets and consumables to swap around to make sure you’re good to go no matter which way they tell you to Spec.
How To Fix It
  • Train yourself. Don’t do this on a progression run, but learn how to wean yourself off the crutches: Instruct your Druids that they should use their innervates for themselves. Ask for a Mage to be given your spot in the S.priest group. (Added bonus! Your Mage-buddy will love you!) Bring smaller mana pots, and use them as you would the Supers – you stay in the habit of burning your cooldown, but get used to operating with less mana. Swap your trinkets out for less-helpful ones. (Keep them similar, so you keep in the habit of popping them.) Or just swap your trinkets in general – maybe the proc from the Bangle is worth more than the extra 170 Spirit use from the Earring.
  • Use mods that keep track of how much time you spend “casting” and learn how to maximize your inherent regen. (My favorite is RegenFu, but it requires FuBar to work.)
  • Chain your abilities. When you get a Clearcast proc, use it, and follow up with an Inner Focus – If both are used with 3-second casts, and followed up with a stop-casting macro, you can buy a lot of oo5sr time without abandoning your job.
  • Fix your broken gear. I don’t mean repairs (but check that, too!) Do the research and spend the money to make sure that your gear is fully optimized. No common gems, no cheap enchants. Make the most of what you have.
  • Know your capabilities. Test on your own to know what your current gear can do when pushed to its max. Swap an item or trinket and test again. Research and find out what other Priests are capable of doing.

It’s not that you’ll never need any outside support to maintain your mana pool. If a lot of healers have died, or you started out short-handed, or you’re truly under-geared for your content, you could need some help. Obviously, Vampiric Touch, Mana Tide, and Innervate are in the game for a reason. The idea isn’t that you should never need them, just that if you always rely on them, you’re cheating yourself and your raid out of the exceptional contributions that you can make, not to mention hogging resources that could go to other players.

Luv,
Wyn