TNB Live Tomorrow
Posted on July 18, 2008 - Filed Under BA Shared Topic, Random
Hey everyone!? TNB is going to be recording a live podcast tomorrow night using UStream.? I”ll be participating in the roundtable.
Check it out, and come and listen in on the fun!
Should I Stay or Should I Go
Posted on July 18, 2008 - Filed Under silly
The eternal song of a hybrid class with a sub spot in a raid. Original lyrics by The Clash.
Leader you gotta let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
If you say I’ll get that spot
I’ll be here until you stop
So you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
Always say “well wait and see”
Subs line up like swarms of bees
One day is fine, the next is black
So if you want me off your back
Well come on and let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there may be room
If I stay I will be doomed
So come on and let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
This indecision’s bugging me
If there’s no room please set me free
Exactly what role am I to be?
Don’t you know respecs are not free?
So come on and let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there may be room
If I stay I will be doomed
So come on and let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
Vengeance for Zul’Jin!
Posted on July 17, 2008 - Filed Under Peeves, Raid, expansion
So everyone knows that Lich King is coming. Yeah yeah, we get it - right? I’m sure I’m not the only one getting tired of the constant quibbling about it. (such and such is going to be 1) so awesome 2) so overpowered 3) so game breaking 4) so totally stupid 5) etc.)
It’s hard to escape constant little reminders that “something new is coming”. People (including myself) are stockpiling materials and finishing up side stories. Raids are either collapsing because “it’s not worth it” or feeling the pressure to complete as much of the current content as they can before it becomes obsolete.
Sunwell is to Burning Crusade what Naxxramas was to the original World of Warcraft - the guild/raid breaking instance released just on the cusp of the expansion, seen by few and completed by fewer. (which begs the question of whether we’ll see a “re-done” Sunwell in a future X-pack) And it, much like Naxxramas, is where some people are finding the pressure to see more, do more, experience more, and get more shiny loot to be worth jumping raids.
And that kind of thing sucks for the raids that get left behind - arguably causing more difficulty for BC raids than it did for the original 40 mans. Why? In a 40 man raid, you could have 10 people that were dead weight - sometimes even 15 people that were dead weight - before you started to see real issues. Granted, that number was smaller and smaller the more progressed your raid was, but even up to halfway through Blackwing Lair a raid could support some very sub-par players on the basis of numbers alone.
25 man raiding is different, and more intense. There hasn’t been a big change to tanking (you still need 4-5 tanks) - but rather than 9 healers, most raids run with 6-7, and you now have to deal with MUCH more difficult situations and dish out a lot more DPS per damage class. A good team has a lot of trust laying in between the lines, so when you lose someone at a difficult transition, it means both teaching a new person about how to do the fight - AND gearing them up, AND learning to trust them. Because of the smaller numbers and the difficulty of the fight, the loss of a valued member is more acutely felt.
Of course, those difficult transitions are the places where a raid is most likely to see burnout and frustration (two things that often lead to raid-jumping).
At the same time, there’s no guarantee of what kind of groups will or will not make it past the transition to Lich King. A lot of raids that fell apart in the months leading up to Burning Crusade never got off the ground in the 10 or 25 man arenas, people getting absorbed into other raids or staying away from the high-end content altogether.
Difficult learning phases are tough for any raid (roster wise) - but the added pressure of the upcoming expansion only makes it easier for people to go looking for bigger opportunities. After all, they might never get to see those fights/instances should they not work with other, more progressed raids.
I’m afraid I don’t have any real answers in this post, because deep down I can understand both sides. In the end, this is a game that we all pay for - and paying $15 a month to do something you hate is both silly and a waste of money. Everyone has different motivations (remember those gamer personality tests?), and getting those motivations to square with your guild, your friends, your raid, and your time spent in game is a challenge for each person that picks up a subscription.
*images from battle.net
**Regardless of all this (which fortunately hasn’t been too much of an issue for us), TRI is taking on Kael’thas Sunstrider this week. Poncy Git…
On top of Spaghetti
Posted on July 17, 2008 - Filed Under Healing, Shaman
Vonya, the fabulous Egotistical Priest, has written up a fantastic overview/guide to Meatballs. Er… Earthshields, that is.
I think the only thing she says that I disagree with is that the change from 10 charges at higher mana to 6 charges at lower mana was a good trade off… but then I was spoiled by the old 10 charge earthshield. It really was a lot nicer for PVE fights simply because you didn’t have to re-cast it all the time. All. The. Time.
But! Much like spaghetti and meatballs, chain heals and earthshields are ultimately awesome, and you should read her post.
Go check it out!
Guest Blogger: Galertruby
Posted on July 16, 2008 - Filed Under Guest Post, Reality
Hello you buggers. Too Many Annas done got Too Many Germs, and she don’t feel up ta writin’ a post today. So young Galertruby, helpful lad that he is, volunteered ta writes one fer her. So, here’s his thoughts on … ummm …. Patch 2.4.3? Raid healing? Fluggerdumpers spamming the Trade channel? I never knows what the boy is saying, but he do it with enthusiamifications.
Anywho, here it is: 
Garhhl. Gahhl galha Garrrahhalagh.
Agrhh glagglha gha ghrallhalha, aglh aglha gallh gahll gahrrallah. Aglha gallh gahll gahrrallah agglh ahghlagl. Agh grrhal gallha gra gahhllha gallraghl ahl galagh, gahhll garhh ahhghr glahh gallagh. Glahlha lagghla allagh gahhgl, aghl agghalagh ghag laglhahg. Ghaha aghl!
Lahg: Gllah gahr allahhgrl GhallaglGah. Gllah gahr allahhgrl ghallagl gah.
Gallha gra gahhllha gallraghl ahl galagh, gahhll garhh ahhghr glahh gallagh. Aghahll garhhr gallha gaah gaarrhl, agh agghal ghallalhah ah gllarh. Gahagl, glah, arglaha, gahl agahharhl glaglahg! Gllha garrharlh aglhha gahllragl. Glahhal lahlga lahagha aglhaha; glahg glahhgl gallha glhha. Aghallalagl gah gahghla, agglha agghalagh grhag laglhahg. Glahhgl garrh gahhlahglahhr ghalgrha agghaha laglha.
Gha gha gha!
Alhhagh gha,
Garrrahhalagh
Healing Revealed
Posted on July 15, 2008 - Filed Under BA Shared Topic, Healing
I know I’m late to the bandwagon here, but I wanted to give you guys a heads up to a new forum that many of you will probably find interesting and helpful.
Plus Heal is a forum for healers (including some other notable healing bloggers like Matticus and Wynthea, Siha, Lume, Neutralise, Phaelia, and Auzara) where we can go to get a more community minded discussion about all kinds of healing-related thingies, from PVP to PVE to theorycrafting for all healing situations. I’ll be helping out with the shaman forums and probably poking my nose in to the raiding stuff as well - and reading as much as I can about paladins and druids (the two classes I have the least experience with as healers!)
Obviously this doesn’t mean I’m not going to talk about healing anymore over here on my blog, just that there is another great resource out there for us healy-minded folks!
Ok - so this is a bit of a cop-out post for my first day back, but you’ll have to spare me an extra day. My weekend getaway included being in airports with sick people, and I’ve come home with at least one cold and without any semblance of a voice. Today will include more chicken soup and less writing of blog articles than I’d like.
ATTN: Healers
Posted on July 10, 2008 - Filed Under Healing, Raid
If you are a healer, lead healers, or have any healers in your raid that run any mods at all, the following should be (in my (not so) humble opinion) required reading:
Grid, Pitbull, Healbot, and Synchronization
or
how to annoy all the other healers without even realizing it
Basically, it’s a summary of how Grid/Pitbull, Healbot, and the Default UI talk to each other - or don’t talk to each other - and a simple solution that will help cut down on overheals in your raid! Since there is no one “best” healing mod, this kind of summary/fix (which allows each person to pick their mod of choice - and STILL have good healing communication) is Really Good Stuff! Thanks Nibuca!
sorry guys, afk, cat on fire
Posted on July 10, 2008 - Filed Under Reality
Going to be afk from tomorrow until Monday the 14th. Your daily dose of Anna-ramblings will return next Tuesday. Until then, there are great blogs that you can read (check out the sidebar) in my stead!
Have fun, I’ll see you all when I get back, and (as always) may the Loot Fu be with you!
What’s your secret?
Posted on July 9, 2008 - Filed Under Alts, BA Shared Topic
Ok - so maybe secret isn’t the right word, but I think everyone has little tips and tricks that help them get through the slogs in Warcraft. I’ve only very recently started actively farming anything other than levels and XP (which is a different kind of grind) - and I’m working on an arsenal of things that keep me interested while I’m going after that next adamantite node, terocone patch, or windy cloud.
- Friends. Having someone to talk to, in guild chat, chat channels, or party chat, helps me out a LOT. Farming up (whatever) takes a fair amount of time, and having someone to talk to about whatever happens to come up is a nice distraction.
- Podcasts. I’ve found that I have real trouble playing when I can’t hear in-game sound, so playing music isn’t always the best way to keep me interested. But listening to someone talk is a lot like having an interesting conversation, and I can easily do so while having the in-game sound (and music) turned on. My usual choices are warcraft, history, and knitting podcasts… I know, I’m a nerd, but there are TONS of podcasts to choose from.
- Goals. Today I’m going to go out and farm 2 stacks of adamantite and 5 primal shadow (or whatever). Having a minimum goal helps - even if it just means I’m counting down until I get to go do something more fun.
Leveling alts is one of the things I really enjoy about warcraft - partially because it helps keep me interested, partially because it’s a way to create interesting and different personalities, and partially because I really enjoy re-exploring Azeroth and zones that I have memories from earlier characters. As much as I enjoy it, however, there are times when leveling can be another “grind” kind of experience. When I’m working on leveling an alt, there are two more things that have helped:
- Make it a game - what’s the most efficient way to do these quests. How many of these can I get done all in one shot without running out of bag space or having to backtrack. Having a leveling guide (there are a few free ones that are pretty good) can help, though since I’ve done most of the zones 4 or 5 times now, I don’t really need to use them.
- Do all your running around in one fell swoop - I save up go here, go there, run this to so and so in the middle of nowhere quests for one long stretch of hoofing it all over Azeroth. Rather than break the focus that I have on doing individual quests in sequence, this lets me do something else (like cleaning, cooking, or knitting) while I’m on the gryphon flying to deliver zuzu’s petals to gizmo the goblin off the coast of Azshara (or whatever). Then, when I’m done, I can go back to one quest area and really dig in.
- Keep Personality in mind. It’s fun to figure out how Annylais would respond to something - and how that’s different from Aelflaed’s response. Each of my characters has her own history and preferences (Angoleth *really* doesn’t like demons, and Annorah avoids killing elementals whenever possible - unless they’re sick/tainted) and that helps to keep the quest areas fresh.
Tripping the WTF Meter
Posted on July 8, 2008 - Filed Under Peeves, Random, silly
So it’s late and I can’t sleep, and I’m reading over the Feathermoon Forum, searching for either good RP or really good drama to take up some time while I attempt to find sleepiness. As expected, I find a few rather lengthy, tasty drama threads to occupy my time.
In one of those threads, a name comes up that seems familiar. Oddly familiar… and at first I can’t quite place it.
And then I remember.
Storytime for you all: the weirdest sex request I’ve run into in Warcraft!
******
Scene: Stormwind City, midafternoon
Characters: Annorah, level 20ish shaman, in ghost wolf form; (unnamed) female draenei that I’m going to refer to as Pat
Annorah had just gotten her ghost wolf form and (as is to be expected) was running around like a deranged puppy chasing after a crate of loose tennis balls. At this point, “Pat” walks up and begins to fawn all over the “cute cuddly puppy”.
I play along a bit, thinking that this is rather strange, especially considering all her tells are peppered with references in *asterisk emotes* to how beautiful she is ( WEIRDOMETER: 1). Eventually, I shift out. And then her tells begin to take a different tone… this one about how beautiful Annorah is (WEIRDOMETER 2).
Note: At this level, Annorah’s flag RSP very clearly stated that her face was still rather charred up from the Exodar explosion. Pat also was running flagRSP, with a description about how young and pretty she was, and her wanting to be someone’s pet (WEIRDOMETER 3).
Annorah mentions something casually about how it’s unusual that someone wouldn’t notice the burn scars all over her face, and her sewn-shut eye. Pat responds with something equally fluffy, and then says that “everyone has their uglinesses, even me, but you can’t see that yet” (WIERDOMETER 4). And she begins to ask me what The Light thinks about “abnormalities” (WEIRDOMETER 5).
******
At this point, it’s probably better to cut to the end of the scene, post explanation of the Elements and my wierdometer flashing like fireworks on the 4th of July. The end result was my character getting propositioned for openly-hermaphroditic Draenei sex.
Now, as I’m sure you all know if you’ve been reading here long, I’m a big fan of RP and really enjoy developing my characters’ personalities and learning about them through game interaction. But, really? *really*? And, to be perfectly honest, I don’t really have an issue with ERP, as long as I don’t have to see it. What you do in tells is your business (and I won’t deny sending my husband a few eyebrow-raising ones in the past). However, out in public places - with RSP tags that BOTH FACTIONS can read? Ugh.
Anyway - that’s a soapbox for another day.
**And since it bears saying - I may be remembering this character’s (real) name wrong, or it may be just very very close to the name of the character I interacted with, so I have refrained from linking to the thread OR mentioning said person’s character name here. The whole thing was just too much of a coincidence to not trip the “WTF meter”, and either way, I think it makes for a pretty good story!
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