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

Who is Matt and Why is His Blog Here After a Year?

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Want to hear a little known fact? It was a year ago today that I picked up worldofmatticus.com and wrote my first blog post on my new domain. The blog actually opened a few weeks earlier but I felt like populating the place with a few things. Thanks for the post Wyn =D!

Looking back

Why did I do it? What possessed me to dedicate what time and little money I had into a personal journal that would eventually evolve into something more?

Because I had the desire to communicate. At its very essence, blogging is nothing more than you putting your thoughts out. I didn’t care if I had 5 readers or 5 million. But I had thoughts, stories and experiences that I wanted to get out there and share so that I would never forget. Believe it or not, the original inspiration for a blog originated from World of Ming (who has since moved to Game Riot).

There was such little formatting in my posts. I didn’t bother with grammar checking and spell checking. Posts were brief and to the point. I did a lot of things wrong or I felt as if though I didn’t do them well enough.

That in itself was a gift. If you can take one thing away from this blog whether you are a player, or a writer or whatever it is that you do, it is to never be afraid of failing hard. You never know what you’re capable of if you don’t try. There’s only one way to find out what will work and what doesn’t.

Goals

When I started out my blog, I knew I wasn’t just going to take it day by day. I had a long term plan in place. I knew I would be playing World of Warcraft for a long time and I set myself up for the long haul investing in 2 years worth of web hosting fees.

I contrast this with many other WoW Blogs that I know of that cropped up overnight and held their own for a while before folding (Galadria’s Holy Light, Girl Meets WoW, many others).

Some advice? If you want to make sure you keep blogging, investing time and money into it is a good way to ensure you stick with it. And I’m so glad I’ve been able to stick with it!

So what were my goals when I started out with World of Matticus? Let me share with you what went through my young and ambitious mind:

  • Address common Priest issues
  • Provide assistance and guidance in raids
  • Advise on meaningful guild topics
  • Exceed 100,000 impressions in a year
  • Achieve 200 subscribers
  • Have 50 people following me on Twitter
  • Make 10 bucks from advertising to pay off the domain name

Achievements

What was I able to achieve? I not only met my targets, I exceeded them well past my initial expectations.

  • Addressed common healer issues
  • Provided detailed healing strategy on numerous raid encounters
  • Wrote about handling typical guild affairs and business
  • Reached 530,000+ impressions
  • Over 600 subscribers
  • Followed by over 150 way smarter individuals than I (on Twitter)
  • Made $310 to cover all of my blog expenses (and a school text book! Thanks guys!)

Was that the end? Nope, not at all! More fun and unexpected events happened!

The Unexpected

I launched a tiny little forum that is growing little by little every day (Hoping to hit 700 registered users by New Years and 2000 after 1 year).

Some monkey at WoW Insider thought that the stuff I was writing was worth having. As a result, I was brutally kidnapped, tortured, held at Wand point hired to help them pen their Priest column on a weekly basis (even though I’ve been abysmally inefficient and irregular about it).

Bre and Fim graciously invited me to appear on one of their early Twisted Nether blogcasts for which I am eternally grateful. I had so much fun on that show just chatting with them on the air (and off the air)!

Future ambitions

Now, do not mistake the recent slowdown of personally written posts as retirement contemplation. I’ll admit that thought has crossed my mind on multiple occasions. But I’ve been corporate America’s number 1 enemy for a long time. Ever corporate firewall needs a worthy foe and you know what? Matticus is that foe. I am committed to wasting 5 minutes of WoW players disguised as office workers for another year per day! In fact, I will see my own 5 minutes and raise it to 7!

Rest assured Azeroth, Matticus and Wynthea will be at the front line Smiting and Healing our way through Northrend and when we will do our absolute best in the advancement of restorative knowledge and Holy techniques so that everyone will benefit.

Video Blog

TJ started it with TJ TV. Saresa has begun experimenting with it (and she is one hot tamale, yes indeed)! The episodes of Matticus will begin to air sometime late August/early September. Who the heck knows what they’ll be filled with?

Podcast

Wyn and I intend to try and get our feet wet with podcasting. Expect that to come up fairly soon as well. Although I doubt we’ll be able to match the production standards and qualities of Twisted Nether, I’d like to at least try and push the two of them beyond and make them excel harder. Of course, like Adam Savage says, failure is always an option!

Matticus 3.0

It took me a good month to get this current layout operational and up to my (personal) standards. Design, coding and construction will begin on the 3rd version of World of Matticus. I’m hesitant to give a date because I know I’ll never meet it. But let’s for now say a tentative early Winter. Actually, it’s also going to depend on when Wrath debuts.

3rd Writer

The search is still on! I’ve received many submissions! Choosing them is going to be quite a task and it’s not something to be envied with this many enthusiastic under-bloggers! There is still time left if you want to try your luck (or even send it a second one just for fun)!.

Interesting stats

stats-1-year

Now, I’m not doing this to toot my own horn. I’m doing this to deliver a message to any and all aspiring WoW Bloggers. These are WordPress page impressions for the entire year that my blog has been around. To the young blogger starting out, I was once like you. I too had 600 visitors a month. I, too had 50 visitors a day. I too experienced pains where I thought I’d written a brilliant post only to face disappointment at finding zero comments (and I still DO experience that even now).

I’ve been there. And I’m urging you not to give up. You can get readers and fans. There are people that will genuinely be interested in what you have to say and what your thoughts are. It doesn’t matter whether your interest is in PvP, or raiding, or RPing. What matters is that you keep writing. You can use whatever blogging techniques you want with SEO optimization, and other blogger mumbo jumbo. But at the end of the day, readers will reward your perseverance. It may not be now, it may not be later but it will happen. You have to stick with it. When you’re blogging, you’re grinding reputation with all of the Internet.

(Note: For those interested, I do use Google Analytics and Woopra but those were installed way later. Yes, traffic levels are around the same)

Due credit must be given

Phaelia – A wonderful druid and a wonderful blogger. I am truly humbled to be able to have the opportunity to have gotten to know Phae. Another little known fact? Phae proved instrumental in the coding scheme and of the blog. If it weren’t for her assistance, this blog would look incredibly different.

TJ – For openly admitting on BA chat that she would consider going out with me (I have it on screenshots). I’ve never met a more finer spirit. Even though she is a New Jersey Devils fan. But I guess nobody’s perfect.

Big Bear Butt – Would not be a WoW Insider columnist without his encouragement. It is my intention to one day help him format his posts and make it look purdy. At least for a day or a week. I must be getting old. Or it must be my Asian eyes. I think I need better glasses. 

Blog Azeroth homies – You guys know who you are. You are all for real (for real). Thanks for just putting up with me in general!

Wynthea – And last but absolutely in no way least, my dearest Wynthea. She deserves a medal for some of the behind the scenes stuff as well as her work she’s done. She has always been free to leave and pursue her own projects at any time but has decided to spend it here and help contribute to the blog.

To you, the reader, the subscriber – I don’t know when you started reading the blog or how you got here (and that would actually make a very good poll question in general as to what on earth drove you here), but it’s not often that I find myself at a loss for words. Your viewership, your comments, your support, agreements, disagreements, arguments, emails, and everything. It’s unbelievable and I am incredibly humbled. Back to what I wrote earlier, I hope many of the current younger bloggers will stick around and get a chance to experience the same feeling one day.