Staggered Raiding with Swagger

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Cool, it looks like not every raid is going to be available immediately after the game release. I’m cool with that and I know others are, too. It took me less than half a week to level to from 80 to 85 and I predict it’s going to take me around the same time to go from 85 to 90. That should be enough time to hit cap and hit up scenarios along with dungeons for whatever points and gear needed. There’s still that minimum item level needed to queue for LFR.

My personal goal is to at least hit that mark before raids open.

How Blizzard used to slow content consumption down in the past

  • Really hard raid encounters that were near-mathematically or skillfully impossible without exploits (Vanilla)
  • Attunements (early Burning Crusade)
  • Gradually releasing bosses (Wrath, ICC)
  • Limited attempts (Wrath, ToC)

Now there’s no gimmicks or tricks. It’s just a straight-up “We’re not releasing this completed instance to you yet”.

There’s still a remarkable amount of players that are rather “upset” about the whole staggered and delayed raiding thing (if recent blog feedback’s an accurate indicator).

I’m going to use an analogy.

Let’s use swimming.

What if the race started before swimmers even reached the pool? Phelps and Lochte would have to race each other to change into their speedos, get their goggles attached, and put on their caps before sprinting and diving in the pool and racing their medley.

But now all the swimmers start at the line at the exact same time. Their speed and performance can actually be gauged by their abilities in the pool as opposed to how fast they can get ready.

If you think about it though, there’s going to be two races going on: First to hit level cap and the first to raid kills/clears. One shouldn’t impact the other.

CGL – Season 1: League of Legends debut

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Not quite a WoW related post today.

I looooove my League of Legends. I’m not the greatest at it, but I certainly get a huge adrenaline rush from both playing and watching.

A few months ago, I mentioned my desire to start a recreational gaming league within the guild (and for other interested players). League of Legends will be the first game. This will be a way for me to test my system before activating the pet battles league.

Organizing and planning a rec league takes quite the effort. But it’s all coming together quite nicely. We have a confirmed (at least) 4 teams participating with representatives from Madcast Gaming. That’s actually not a bad number because at 6 total matches per team, it means each team plays each other twice.

General Information

Game: League of Legends
Map: Summoner’s Rift (Summer)
Format: 5v5, Tournament Draft
Duration: 6 weeks, 1 match per week
Roster size: 5 – 7 players

Full list of rules

Challonge.comwill be used to organize round robin play and ensuing playoff rounds.

Dates

July 27: Registration for inaugural season opens.
July 31: Registration closes.
August 3: Week 1 begins.
August 17: Week 3 begins. Rosters are locked for the rest of the season including playoffs.
September 7: Week 6. Final matches are played. Any makeup matches must be resolved in the final week.
September 14: Playoffs begin. Further dates unknown until team registration finishes.

Select matches may be shoutcasted. Official casters will be the LeetSauced crew along with the tandem of myself and Lodur.

If you’re interested, here’s the registration link. I strongly advise that you be level 30 and have several hundred games played. Although tomorrow night’s the cut off, if you’re interested, I can re-write the bracket before week 1 starts on Friday.

As an aside, have you been catching the Olympics at all? What events are you most interested in? For me, it’s both volleyball and beach volleyball. Those beach players make things look so easy. It’s so hard jumping on sand :(.

Here’s to the People

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It’s not often you’ll read about non-WoW stuff. But, this is one of my quiet anticipations for the year (Counterstrike: Global Offensive being my loudest). Guild Wars 2 and I had an interesting history together. It was by no means my first MMO. But, it was my first MMO as a healer.

It was also my first experience running a guild.

To be fair, I didn’t do much more than administration, scheduling, and logistics. It’s something I rather enjoy doing (and something most players detest, because they just want to play). Basically got suckered into it, but heh, I didn’t mind. The guild was tiny. It consisted of around 10 or so players. Everyone in the guild was someone I knew in real life – We were all on the Canadian west coast.

I affectionately refer to them as the Asians (and it’s what they’re known as now in the guild when I’m talking about them since they’re still with us but involved in other games).

We all levelled and blitzed through Tyria together.

We held the line against rival guilds together.

We ascended the Hall of Heroes together.

I have a hard time explaining this to friends. “Why do you spend that kind of time with strangers? It’s a waste!” Though I’m fairly certain that’s an Asian parents question. But when people ask this, I tell them it’s no different then playing in rec volleyball or hockey. Time is set aside each week dedicated to practice or matches and it’s either going to be for competition or for fun.  Ultimately you’re with people that you like playing with while having some goal in mind.

Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it’s Guild Wars 2, SWTOR, TERA, Secret World, WoW, or what have you. The platform or game can change. Games are going to change in features, textures, bosses, etc. But ultimately, the people is what makes the experiences worth it.

Seriously though, I can’t wait for GW2. No monthly subscription means I can play that and WoW. I don’t want to have multiple active subscriptions to games since I only have so much time I can devote. I was tempted to give TERA and Secret World a shot, but I couldn’t justify multiple subscriptions. It’s my firm belief that Guild Wars 2 is going to do quite well since it’s going to target a section of the population that’s not willing to stomach a monthly fee. It will offer competition to WoW and I want to see what the new “it” thing is going to be when the game comes out. WoW has a long, storied history of adapting ideas from other games and introducing it into theirs.

When gaming companies have to innovate and come up with new ideas, the winners always end up being the players.

Speaking of Guild Wars 2, I’m looking for some help. The community has certain leadership positions available and I’m looking to expand. A guild leader solely for GW2 would be tremendous. There’s almost no chance of me devoting my time there, with WoW, and other responsibilities. So if anyone’s looking to help quarterback a guild without the extraneous stuff that comes with running a guild, give me a shout.

TwizzCast: Episode 14

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I know it’s been a while since I’ve been on the air. Clearly there millions of you just dying from the lack of hearing my voice.

Right?

No?

No.

Awww…

In any case, you can find me on the latest episode of the Twizzcast where I co-hosted with the elusive T-Wizzle. The honor of being the first guest without the explicit tag goes to moi (Canadian for me).

We chatted a little bit about Enjin, how to get through a near guild death experience, along with some of the more under-the-table changes coming into Mists of Pandaria.

What I’m Doing on my Birthday in September: MoP out on the 25th

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This is absolutely brilliant. The guess I made was a late summer/early fall release.

Incidentally enough, it debuts the day before my birthday and I already bought a digital deluxe and a normal copy for myself. Quite pleased that a digital deluxe is offered this time around. Saves me the trouble of staying out til’ midnight to get a copy of the game and battling through lines and such.

But, this is good news. With a release date, we now all have a timetable. I’m sure guilds and leaders are already in the process of gearing up for the release. Already, plans are in motion for roster additions and other changes for the expansion. We’re on the final stretch now.

What’re your plans?