Back when Jessabelle (of Miss Medicina fame) was putting together our ICC group, I had sort of an active role in "helping". That is to say, since her and I chat a bunch, and I'm not exactly shy, I lobbed my opinions at her whether she wanted them or not. Gracious being that she is, she mostly listened, even if with a simple nod, smile, and "you're wrong".
I think something that a lot of people don't realize is just how much effort it actually takes to form a successful raid group. I'm not talking about a simple one-time thing, but a group that will stay and play together for the next several months while tackling the challenge of the month. To balance schedules, attitudes, strengths, and roles with and eye on the long-term ramifications of your choices can be a very daunting task. Jbelle loves it, even though it sometimes frustrates the hell out of her. I, on the other hand, would rather just be handed a group and told to "lead it". Organizing is really not my bag, baby.
So it was that Jbelle was putting in a ton of effort to get this thing off the ground and I was trying to help, though probably often degenerating matters into heated discussions of the minutia, as Jbelle and I are wont to do. One of the intricacies that we kept coming back to was the issue of class synergies. Much has been written about it before, but the down and dirty operative here is that a lot of time can be spent looking at how different classes compliment each other in a raid setting.
Jbelle's goal has ever been to come up with the perfect synergies. When she's forming a group, she turns a keen eye to who buffs the brings, what type of damage they do, etc., in the hopes that when she's done, she's made the strongest group possible. I would even venture so far as to say that achieving the perfect raid synergy is one of her very top goals when organizing. It may take her extra time, effort, and consternation, but, by the Light, we will have our buffs! All of them!
Where the argument between us used to arise is that I hold synergy in a somewhat lower stead. When I'm organizing a group, the first (and almost only) thing I look for is "how strong is the player behind the toon". I always want to try to focus on the human aspect above the game aspect, obviously buying Blizz's "bring the player not the class" policy hook, line, and sinker. I would most certainly throw synergy to the wind if it doesn't allow me to bring the best players I have available. I guess, using a baseball analogy, Jbelle is really looking for the complete team, every position filled, while I'm content with all nine positions being played by Shortstops, provided the Shortstops can play all the other positions adequately.
Critiquing the analogy, you may say: "Well Jbelle's approach is obviously better, since she's taking more things into account." My argument here is that it really depends on the level of baseball you're playing. In the big leagues, where you have access to really stellar players of all positions, you'd be exactly correct; Jbelle's approach would blow mine out of the water. However, at lower levels, say Little League, it may behoove you to just put all your athletes on the field in various positions to allow them to make plays, even if they're not actually outfielders or what have you. The point is to not gimp yourself with a poorer player just because he/she is listed at a certain position.
(Short aside: Our raid group is neither at the Little League or Big League level. In fact, we're somewhere in between as I'm sure the vast majority of raiders are. Furthermore, when all was said and done, we've got a great group of people who are good players AND can play the different positions so as to give us a great synergy. Through the heroic efforts of Miss Jbelle, we really get to have our cake and eat it too. Still, her and I enjoy discussing things in the abstract, and that's really where this argument about synergy resides. It's not really reflective of how our RL situation unfolded, since RL stuff is almost never as simple as theory would have you believe.)
Being Jbelle's group, she obviously got her way, despite perhaps some protestations otherwise from my end. Not that we ended up gimping ourselves, mind you, I just thought she had made it too complicated at times, causing herself needless headaches to find the perfect group when a semi-perfect group would work too. In the end, though, I think she was able to achieve a very synergistic group of good players, really the Holy Grail of raiding, and has been a big reason why we've had so much success in ICC while on such a short time budget. (We raid once a week for two hours. That's it. We're now on the second boss of the Odorous Quarter. Rotface I believe. Their names all run together for me... some variation on "smells bad". We also reset on average once every two weeks, depending on weekly quests and needed gear drops. So I think that makes us pretty efficient.)
As something of a WoW-humanist, I thought I had the human element covered in my Ruminations With Jbelle (A new show on Oxygen!). She wanted to maximize the built-in game benefits, but I kept focused on the players behind the toons. While for the most part, I may have known what I was talking about, there is certainly one aspect of this synergy business that surprised me (That's the closest you're going to get of humility from me, Jbelle). I'm sure our fearless leader had this all thought through in her dwarven head, but I guess what I didn't realize is that loot distribution is really one of the key fringe benefits of synergistic class formation. It may seem obvious in retrospect. After all, if you have a healthy spread of classes, you shouldn't be fighting over the same loot as much.
In practice, however, it surprised me. Loot seems to rarely be contested by our group. If something drops, there only ever seem to be one or two people who want it, at most. We don't have three of the same class and spec fighting over the same key drops, and the result is that you feel like you get a lot more loot.
I think it's human that players will sometimes get frustrated by gear. Even if you're not a "loot whore", you like gear drops. Who doesn't? When you happen across a string of bad luck, it can seem like forever since you've won a roll, and can lead to frustration even in the most patient of players. No one likes being screwed over by Lady Luck. It's inevitable, then, that throughout the life of a group, the chance for disenfranchisement with the loot situation increases. That is to say, the longer you run with the same people, the more likely it is for one of you to run afoul of a bad string of luck and get a bit disgruntled.
A synergistic group can stave off the Loot Miasma. Like a vaccine, starting a group with a healthy spread of classes can inoculate your group against infection. On an intangible level, what Jbelle did was smart not only from the game design benefits, but also concerning the more hidden human element of raiding. She really did a great job in giving us the best chance to succeed.
It can be frustrating when you're desiring to join a PuG and are told "no, we already have too many warlocks", and really, a PuG doesn't need the benefits of synergy and long-term goodwill to succeed in it's goal; most PuG's are all about short-term success. (And also, isn't a PuG the bottom level? It's like the sandlot ball of raiding.) For a cohesive, future-minded raid team, "class denied" might not be as bad a policy as previously thought. It pays off in the long run given time for fringe benefits like the Loot Miasma Vaccination to manifest. If you have the choice, go for the synergy. It may take some extra work, but it'll probably be worth it.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
I'll Have The Fish Sandwich
Labels: Raiding, warlocky 4 comments
Am I the only Catholic that gets a small, juvenile kick out of fish sandwiches during lent? Yes, I'm Catholic. For those who don't pay attention to such things, this means that today is an important day: Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Lent. Now, I'm not going to go all Holy Roller on you and explain stuff. If you don't already know what Lent is and want to, Wikipedia that shit. It's not light reading, but it might be Light reading. The humorous point that I'm trying to get to is the method by which I usually realize Lent is coming.
You see, around this time every year, nearly every fast food establishment begins to advertise deals on their Fish Sandwhiches. You may have noticed this. If you have, rest assured it is completely due to the Catholic tradition of not eating meat on Fridays (and Ash Wednesday). I'm not going to get into the theology of it, don't worry, the point is that it's a long standing tradition that a lot of people take part in (or semi-take part in, or ignore, as the case may be). I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just a tradition, and it's heralded by Fish Ads.
Since I'm a teenager at heart still, sitting down with my work pals and ordering the Fish Sandwich always makes me blush and giggle. So sue me. Life is full of little pleasures like this. If you don't get it, or are shaking your head at my immaturity, I raise my right butt cheek and fart in your general direction. Your father was a hamster and your mother smelled of eldiberries.
But here I am talking about Fish Ads when I really wanted to be talking about Zombie Adds. Different things, at least we hope so.
Since work has crit all over me this week, and house hunting doesn't help, I'm reduced to small, perhaps trivial, yet quick posts. That or relying on my wife. She did her duty yesterday, so today is my turn to kick out something small and fast. Sort of like your father in the above Monty Python reference. (How did you think you got here?).
Disjointed though this post may be, I promise I have a point. It's a warlocky point though, so if you got this far expecting something about a Mage, I pity you. Mostly for the Mage part. Your alt is probably a hunter too.
For the rest of us, there are Warlocks. The best healing and DPSing class in the game. Warlocks also have wonderful memories. (Sometimes they have wonderful mammaries too, but that's something else and I won't go there today.) If our memories serve us as our minions do, then we'll all recall after a moment the glorious days of Karazhan whereby one lucky member of the coven was asked to be on "Seed Duty" for a particular fight. Remember it? What was the guy's name? (My minions don't cooperate sometimes). Behind the book case. He summoned all those imps that we pwn'ed and borked the meters with crazy-high numbers in the thousands. Yeah, remember when "thousands" of DPS was super-awesome? *sigh* Those were the days.
There's another fight like that in ICC. Precious. Don't look at me like that, mini-boss or mega-boss, it doesn't matter. What matters is the raw pwnage. I'm telling you guys, put a 'lock on Seed Duty for that fight. Just spam Seed. It's awesome. You'll probably die if you don't stand near enough to the tank to benefit from the AoE threat. Either way, it's fun and you gotta burn down those pesky zombies. There's no time to worry about crap like "picking them up", just like when we went after Mr. Hides Behind a Bookcase in Kara. Spam Seed and tell someone to "just heal you".
If they don't and you die real quick, at least you can finish up your Fish Sandwich before it gets cold. No one likes a cold Fish Sandwich. No one.
Seed Duty. I haz it. (Jbelle - Just heal me).
You see, around this time every year, nearly every fast food establishment begins to advertise deals on their Fish Sandwhiches. You may have noticed this. If you have, rest assured it is completely due to the Catholic tradition of not eating meat on Fridays (and Ash Wednesday). I'm not going to get into the theology of it, don't worry, the point is that it's a long standing tradition that a lot of people take part in (or semi-take part in, or ignore, as the case may be). I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just a tradition, and it's heralded by Fish Ads.
Since I'm a teenager at heart still, sitting down with my work pals and ordering the Fish Sandwich always makes me blush and giggle. So sue me. Life is full of little pleasures like this. If you don't get it, or are shaking your head at my immaturity, I raise my right butt cheek and fart in your general direction. Your father was a hamster and your mother smelled of eldiberries.
But here I am talking about Fish Ads when I really wanted to be talking about Zombie Adds. Different things, at least we hope so.
Since work has crit all over me this week, and house hunting doesn't help, I'm reduced to small, perhaps trivial, yet quick posts. That or relying on my wife. She did her duty yesterday, so today is my turn to kick out something small and fast. Sort of like your father in the above Monty Python reference. (How did you think you got here?).
Disjointed though this post may be, I promise I have a point. It's a warlocky point though, so if you got this far expecting something about a Mage, I pity you. Mostly for the Mage part. Your alt is probably a hunter too.
For the rest of us, there are Warlocks. The best healing and DPSing class in the game. Warlocks also have wonderful memories. (Sometimes they have wonderful mammaries too, but that's something else and I won't go there today.) If our memories serve us as our minions do, then we'll all recall after a moment the glorious days of Karazhan whereby one lucky member of the coven was asked to be on "Seed Duty" for a particular fight. Remember it? What was the guy's name? (My minions don't cooperate sometimes). Behind the book case. He summoned all those imps that we pwn'ed and borked the meters with crazy-high numbers in the thousands. Yeah, remember when "thousands" of DPS was super-awesome? *sigh* Those were the days.
There's another fight like that in ICC. Precious. Don't look at me like that, mini-boss or mega-boss, it doesn't matter. What matters is the raw pwnage. I'm telling you guys, put a 'lock on Seed Duty for that fight. Just spam Seed. It's awesome. You'll probably die if you don't stand near enough to the tank to benefit from the AoE threat. Either way, it's fun and you gotta burn down those pesky zombies. There's no time to worry about crap like "picking them up", just like when we went after Mr. Hides Behind a Bookcase in Kara. Spam Seed and tell someone to "just heal you".
If they don't and you die real quick, at least you can finish up your Fish Sandwich before it gets cold. No one likes a cold Fish Sandwich. No one.
Seed Duty. I haz it. (Jbelle - Just heal me).
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Pumpkins and Word Vomit.. the usual
Labels: MMOs, Rant, Shout Out 3 comments
Hey Gang!
So I've been going back and listening to some of the old Twistednether blogcasts. I wanted to listen to some of the older interviews and see what changes and topics were hot over a year ago. It's truly a flash back for people who've been playing the game for some time. Not sure if you are like me, but I like to try and answer some of the questions that are asked during the podcast.
It really got me thinking about a few things.
One question that the Twisted nether folks always ask is, "What is your favorite part of the game?" Most people usually answer with one or two separate aspects (pvp, twinking, AH, leveling, Raiding, etc.) I understand that not everyone likes everything about the World of Warcraft but my "favorite" parts of the game sure do fluctuate. One week, I only want to do Raiding with my friends. Everything else seems boring to me. Another week, I'll feel the urge to make some gold so I hit up the AH. Each week, hell, each day could bring something new & exciting for me to enjoy.
I've enjoyed the leveling grind which is why I roll alts. I've experimented with twinking a shaman and it is really fun, even though I completely suck at it. I've had the urge to just do something on my own away from others so I do something in outlands that I didn't get a chance to see before.
I never have a chance to be bored in this game.
Even when I'm unable to play WoW, I still have a chance to learn about it and join in with the community of people who share my passion for the game (even from work shhhhh). What other game has such a thing?
So here's the thing, today, we have this game that has endless side tasks and immersive lore to keep any ADD human being busy for years (which is an incredible Feat of Strength on its own I might add). When did it start to be like this?
I still know many people who played from Alpha testing but I still can't fathom how this game evolved. I've been playing since May of '08 and I feel that the game is almost nothing like it used to be. What kept those Alpha & Beta players here for so long? Has Blizzard just been so perfect with adding new content and sprouting the community in such a way that it's impossible not to love it?
I doubt it really. Blizzard is fallible like every other game maker but sometimes things just seem to work out for them. I believe that it's both Talent & Luck that allowed this game to flourish into what it is today.
Now, let’s talking about "Wow Killers." Every time a decently advertised MMO hits the market, everyone speaks of how it's going to bring WoW to its knees.
Every time this new and "improved" MMO starts off, people leave WoW to try out the new features and see if it fulfills all of their dreams that Blizzard "blatantly" ignored for so long. They roll a new toon and have high hopes. A few months pass by and the majority of people start to drop off complaining that it isn't everything they wished for and quit the game. Most of the time, come back to WoW or they even find that neither of the games intrigue them anymore quitting all together.
Why do these new games fail in comparison to WoW? Is WoW just that much better? Is there nothing that could take over the monster that is Blizzard?
Obviously, this is highly discussed topic that many have pondered for centuries. Even Scholars have debated over who would be the next WoW killer.
My understanding is that it won’t be a new MMO that will kill WoW, it will be Blizzard and WoW itself that does it. Commit suicide I guess. I hope it's Samurai Style because that's pretty cool.
Why? Because of people like me of course. People who change their mind about thirty million times on what they actually enjoy doing in the game. If you started off playing a game for the pvp aspect of it, and the pvp was really good in your game, you would be happy to stay. What if you decide that you want to try something new? Well, you're sorta screwed if that's all that's offered. WoW has been able to implement so many different paths for players like me to keep us interested even when new things aren't really coming out fast enough. Did WoW start off like this? No. It did have crafting, it did have leveling, pvp, end-game raiding, etc. but they didn't have the stuff that we know now. Blizzard was given time to bloom without much interruption.
Here's an analogy that I feel best describes what we're seeing now:
Imagine an empty garden. Let’s say this garden is the gaming market for MMOs. Blizzard came in, tilled the land, fertilized it, and planted a pumpkin seed. The seed was largely undisturbed with the occasional seed planted and forgotten. This seed grew into a very large pumpkin over the past 5 years. It has dominated the patch and over shadowed anything that was new & needed sun. People would observe the patch and see the cute little saplings next to the huge mature pumpkin and unfairly compare them.
What these games suffer from is that they are new. They have few options for people like me who enjoy dipping our feet into fresh waters. When Blizzard launched its new MMO, there was nothing on the market that could even remotely compete with it. If you liked MMOs, you had one option. Today, you have a multitude of options, Warhammer Online, Eve, Aion, the super villain one can't remember the name..., and some random others that you can enjoy.
Where this all started from was me being really unhappy with Aion as of late. I'm just not feeling the urge to log in. There is no draw for me there but why? It's a good game and really reminds me of my very first MMO, Final Fantasy XI. I love anime and I love Asian art and culture. Aion is such a beautiful and intriguing game. I even believe that the PvP aspect is hands down better than it is in WoW. The Abyss is like a large populated Wintergrasp where there are quests to do and NPCs to kill but a random group of Elyos could gank your ass so quick it would make your head spin. They've balanced classes around pvp not pve like WoW. Each class has abilities to dominate others or escape if it gets heated. Players skill is rewarded rather than leet purps (gear does help a bunch though).
Then it hit me like a sack of potatoes, THE COMMUNITY! *facepalm* That's what WoW has that no new game could EVER have. We have blogs who blog about information and blogs who blog about blogs. WoW resources are what make this game so awesome! We have a massive group of people in all walks of life that share our passions for this game like nothing before. Yeah Blizzard could nerf your class to all hell but you'll keep coming back because of the people!
Wow... this post was a whole lotta word vomit.
Note: So, after I posted this, Fulguralis emailed me and pointed out that BBB has discussed this EXACT SAME TOPIC *facepalm* Apparently great minds think a like :) His is a really great read and I suggest if this topic is of any interest to you, head over there and check it out.
<3 Fuu
It really got me thinking about a few things.
One question that the Twisted nether folks always ask is, "What is your favorite part of the game?" Most people usually answer with one or two separate aspects (pvp, twinking, AH, leveling, Raiding, etc.) I understand that not everyone likes everything about the World of Warcraft but my "favorite" parts of the game sure do fluctuate. One week, I only want to do Raiding with my friends. Everything else seems boring to me. Another week, I'll feel the urge to make some gold so I hit up the AH. Each week, hell, each day could bring something new & exciting for me to enjoy.
I've enjoyed the leveling grind which is why I roll alts. I've experimented with twinking a shaman and it is really fun, even though I completely suck at it. I've had the urge to just do something on my own away from others so I do something in outlands that I didn't get a chance to see before.
I never have a chance to be bored in this game.
Even when I'm unable to play WoW, I still have a chance to learn about it and join in with the community of people who share my passion for the game (even from work shhhhh). What other game has such a thing?
So here's the thing, today, we have this game that has endless side tasks and immersive lore to keep any ADD human being busy for years (which is an incredible Feat of Strength on its own I might add). When did it start to be like this?
I still know many people who played from Alpha testing but I still can't fathom how this game evolved. I've been playing since May of '08 and I feel that the game is almost nothing like it used to be. What kept those Alpha & Beta players here for so long? Has Blizzard just been so perfect with adding new content and sprouting the community in such a way that it's impossible not to love it?
I doubt it really. Blizzard is fallible like every other game maker but sometimes things just seem to work out for them. I believe that it's both Talent & Luck that allowed this game to flourish into what it is today.
Now, let’s talking about "Wow Killers." Every time a decently advertised MMO hits the market, everyone speaks of how it's going to bring WoW to its knees.
Every time this new and "improved" MMO starts off, people leave WoW to try out the new features and see if it fulfills all of their dreams that Blizzard "blatantly" ignored for so long. They roll a new toon and have high hopes. A few months pass by and the majority of people start to drop off complaining that it isn't everything they wished for and quit the game. Most of the time, come back to WoW or they even find that neither of the games intrigue them anymore quitting all together.
Why do these new games fail in comparison to WoW? Is WoW just that much better? Is there nothing that could take over the monster that is Blizzard?
Obviously, this is highly discussed topic that many have pondered for centuries. Even Scholars have debated over who would be the next WoW killer.
My understanding is that it won’t be a new MMO that will kill WoW, it will be Blizzard and WoW itself that does it. Commit suicide I guess. I hope it's Samurai Style because that's pretty cool.
Why? Because of people like me of course. People who change their mind about thirty million times on what they actually enjoy doing in the game. If you started off playing a game for the pvp aspect of it, and the pvp was really good in your game, you would be happy to stay. What if you decide that you want to try something new? Well, you're sorta screwed if that's all that's offered. WoW has been able to implement so many different paths for players like me to keep us interested even when new things aren't really coming out fast enough. Did WoW start off like this? No. It did have crafting, it did have leveling, pvp, end-game raiding, etc. but they didn't have the stuff that we know now. Blizzard was given time to bloom without much interruption.
Here's an analogy that I feel best describes what we're seeing now:
Imagine an empty garden. Let’s say this garden is the gaming market for MMOs. Blizzard came in, tilled the land, fertilized it, and planted a pumpkin seed. The seed was largely undisturbed with the occasional seed planted and forgotten. This seed grew into a very large pumpkin over the past 5 years. It has dominated the patch and over shadowed anything that was new & needed sun. People would observe the patch and see the cute little saplings next to the huge mature pumpkin and unfairly compare them.
What these games suffer from is that they are new. They have few options for people like me who enjoy dipping our feet into fresh waters. When Blizzard launched its new MMO, there was nothing on the market that could even remotely compete with it. If you liked MMOs, you had one option. Today, you have a multitude of options, Warhammer Online, Eve, Aion, the super villain one can't remember the name..., and some random others that you can enjoy.
Where this all started from was me being really unhappy with Aion as of late. I'm just not feeling the urge to log in. There is no draw for me there but why? It's a good game and really reminds me of my very first MMO, Final Fantasy XI. I love anime and I love Asian art and culture. Aion is such a beautiful and intriguing game. I even believe that the PvP aspect is hands down better than it is in WoW. The Abyss is like a large populated Wintergrasp where there are quests to do and NPCs to kill but a random group of Elyos could gank your ass so quick it would make your head spin. They've balanced classes around pvp not pve like WoW. Each class has abilities to dominate others or escape if it gets heated. Players skill is rewarded rather than leet purps (gear does help a bunch though).
Then it hit me like a sack of potatoes, THE COMMUNITY! *facepalm* That's what WoW has that no new game could EVER have. We have blogs who blog about information and blogs who blog about blogs. WoW resources are what make this game so awesome! We have a massive group of people in all walks of life that share our passions for this game like nothing before. Yeah Blizzard could nerf your class to all hell but you'll keep coming back because of the people!
Wow... this post was a whole lotta word vomit.
Note: So, after I posted this, Fulguralis emailed me and pointed out that BBB has discussed this EXACT SAME TOPIC *facepalm* Apparently great minds think a like :) His is a really great read and I suggest if this topic is of any interest to you, head over there and check it out.
<3 Fuu
Monday, February 15, 2010
Someone Call Hermione, I Need Her Necklace
Labels: General Gaming, warlocky 7 comments
Muggle though I am, I still have need of a time-shifting necklace. Do you ever just go through one of those streaks where time doesn't seem to agree with you? It's agonizingly slow when you're away from everything you could possibly do, but then it speeds by like a racing freight train when you actually try to get stuff done. Despite the dangers of the fabled necklace from Harry Potter, I'm fairly certain that I would not run into myself either, thereby making my head essplode or go bonkers. I've just been all over the place this last week. Even gaming wise. Especially gaming wise.
So here's the cliff notes version with some random bits of insight thrown in for spice. I promise it's not just a Weekend Update. Maybe.
So here's the cliff notes version with some random bits of insight thrown in for spice. I promise it's not just a Weekend Update. Maybe.
- Due to everything getting rescheduled and the weekly quest being ICC, I didn't raid this week. At all. Normally I'm a three day per week raider (short nights, mind you, but nights all the same). Tonight we hit ICC up again from scratch to get the weekly knocked out. Monday has become our day. I'm excited, but it means that I have zero raid information to talk about. I'm going to try using my 'lock portal on the gunship battle. It might be cool.
- We've been doing RL house hunting, which is kind of like grinding for rep in an alternating busy/not busy area. Sometimes stuff's being snatched up as quick as you look at it. Other times it's been on the market for 3 years. Go figure. I wish the tag system in houses were more like WoW (first caster wins) and less like Aion (most damage wins). We're first time home buyers though, so what the bleep do we know? In any case, it has nothing to do with gaming except that as a gamer, the Loft/Office is a big selling point for us. If that shit can't fit two computers and will have heat issues or looks like a shoebox, we're not buying. Anyone else have gaming impact their RL purchasing like that?
- I picked up the 95 Frost Emblem non-tier chest for my Warlock. It has haste, it has crit, it has spell power. It has NO hit. Hurrah! Eventually I may get my 4pt10 (sans chest), but I was sporting the T8 chest. The non-tier piece is a huge upgrade and really a great piece. I don't have the link because I'm at work, but I would recommend checking it out and picking it up. Pawn tells me it's a clear winner for the chest slot. I'm gonna go after the belt next. Those are where my biggest upgrades come from, despite the lure of T10 bonuses.
- I focused a lot on coupled gaming last week. I wanted to follow up on it post v-day. Here's how we roll: we did the usual dinner together and such, but we also spent a lot of time gaming. My gift to her: Dragon Age: Origins. It's pretty awesome when you can give that gift and it totally counts as a gift. Not like, "honey here's a treadmill". Which I always wondered... can Wii Fit really be given as a gift? Isn't that sort of like: "We got you deodorant, take a hint"? In any case, the hardest part for me is letting her play it first and whenever she wants. After all, it's her gift. Right? It's sort of like a conversation I had with a gay friend of mine. Once upon a time, he lauded one of the benefits of his sexual orientation as such: "It's sometimes nice when you can wake up and it doesn't matter who's jeans you put on." If I put on Fuu's jeans... sexy, but well, no. At the same time, sharing is fun. *Ding* instant doubling of your choices. Except when it's not fun and you want to wear the pants. So I guess what I'm trying to say is: I'm am without pants right now. Fuu is wearing the pants. Still, being able to buy a game for your significant other and, like, you want to play it too: priceless. I'll squeeze into it eventually. If she'd have gotten me that treadmill...
- Wow, that last bullet was long.
- We got the PC version of DA:O. We love it so far. Fuu freaks out about the "tough choices" and it's cute. "OMG, they're making me betray someone. Oh, nvm, he's evil, it's okay." She's so sweet.
- I need some topics to write about. I think it's no secret that the blogosphere is in another lull right now. It's too soon to really talk about Cataclysm, but we've also seem nearly all the patching (at least major) that we're going to see. We're in the eye of storm. I'm sure I'll come up with some stuff, even if it's horrible randomness like this and/or ridiculous ranting like I did last week, but if there's anything you've been dying to know about anything we do here at KeS, feel free to shoot an email to us. Contact info can be found at the "About Us" page up top.
- Soon, probably early next week, I plan to do a Demonology Primer. Since Abi is officially gone, I'm going to try to pick up his torch. He always did a wonderful job of covering Demonology (and got me hooked on it as my off spec/heroic dungeon spec of choice), but now that he's gone, I'd like to step into his large shoes and share what I've been doing. I'm off next week so I can do proper linking and such. Still, until I do and until it is officially out of date, he has a wonderful set of guides here. I'm certainly not going to out-do the master, but I did want to cover it as I've been spending a lot of time (and having loads of fun) running Demo as Abi laid it out. If you're a warlock looking for that extra something in the rotflmao-heroics (where Affliction won't work worth a damn), stay tuned.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Better To Ask Your Sister
Labels: Holidays, IC Fridays 3 comments
Fulguralis stood with his back to the wall, calmly surveying the pandemonium in front of him. His minions were all arguing loudly with one another, fighting to be heard not only over each other, but also over the general din of the Dalaran business district. It was nearly Valentines day and the menfolk were out in force to try and squeeze in some last minute shopping. All the women, of course, had apparently gotten their shopping done weeks ago, in secret. His wife had shot him a barely concealed accusatory glare before he left that morning saying she was sure she would love her gift. Fulguralis hoped his panic had not shown.
"Taking the minions for a walk!" he had yelled lamely, slamming the door behind him and finding the nearest port to Dalaran. Now he stood with his back to a wall, both figuratively and literally, and he had no clue what to get her.
"ENOUGH!" He yelled, holding up his hands and silencing his minions. "One at a time. Spaz, you first," the Warlock pointed.
"IthinkyoushouldgethertonsandtonsantonsofCANDY! I-mean-really-what-girl-doesn't-like-candy? I-love-candy! She'll-love-candy! Get-her-candy!" The Imp suggested mildly.
"Okay, thanks. I'd ask you to wait while everyone else has a turn, but I know that's not going to happen, so shift your phase so we don't have to hear you."
"But-I-don-wanna-" he was cut off as his form suddenly got a bit translucent. His mouth still moved, but his voice was lost in the parallel realm where he now half existed. The little guy may argue, but he could not ignore his master's wishes.
"Double B. Go," Fulguralis said.
"Welllll. If you want the advice of this loooove walker, you should buy her a staaar. Then you can be like: Baby, look, you a star. She'll be butter in your arms after that. Ain't no girl can resist such a heavenly gift." Berry Blue leaned back with a satisfied look on his face.
"Hmm, not bad but tough to get. The Mages are pretty protective about their constellations. What do you have for me Nighty?"
"A Big Love Rocket," the Succubus said with a mischievous grin.
"Seriously?" Fulguralis asked.
"Mmmhmmm," she purred.
"No, just no. Do you even know what that is?" the Warlock ask, arms spread wide.
Well, I've heard it has to do with mounting. You see, when a man-" she began excitedly.
"Not even going there," Fulguralis cut her off. She stuck out her tongue.
"It has Zhevra seats," she pouted.
"You guys are all worthless," Fulguralis said, throwing up his arms and stalking away. His minions began to follow, but one sharp look from the Warlock froze them in place. He stalked quickly into the nearest store, shaking his head.
His eyes swept the room and he found a vendor. Striding up to the man he attempted to ask for advice, but a sharp pull on his robe diverted him. Looking down, he found Sparkie, his Felhunter, wagging his tail excitedly with a bracelet in his jaws. Fulguralis held out his hand and the pup deposited the jewelry. It appeared to be a charm of some sort.
"How much for this?" Fulguralis asked, holding the charm in front of the vendor's face.
The vendor stared back at him blankly.
"Hello? Customer here!" Fulguralis waved.
The man stared straight ahead, not seeming to notice him.
"HOOOOOW MUUUUCH FOOOR THIS?" Fulguralis yelled.
The vendor blinked, slowly. And by slowly, I mean, f-in slowly. Fulguralis looked around and noticed that something was wrong. Everyone moved in slow, jerky motions and sounds seemed as if coming from a great distance. Even his own movements felt as if slicing through air turned into a thick, gelatinous ooze.
As he was scanning the room, he noticed that just about everyone in the shop was holding the same charm he had. In fact, one man was exiting the front door, jerky step by jerky step, with a whole bag of the buggers. Even as he watched, the man seemed to take one step backward for every two steps forward. It was an epic battle just to exit the door. Fighting the ooze, Fulguralis return his own attention to the charm in his hand. He didn't want to get his wife the same thing all the other men were getting their wives.
Abruptly, time seemed to speed back up. There was a small moment when everyone in the room looked a bit disoriented, patting robes and shuffling feet as if to ascertain that they were where they thought they were. Then business resumed as usual.
"What the fel was that?" Fulguralis said.
"I'm sorry, sir, how can I help you?" the vendor said in an annoyingly perky voice.
"Oh, now you speak," the Warlock grunted, flinging the charm at the man's face. It seemed to freeze in the air for a moment before seeming to disappear. Fulguralis was surprised to find the charm back in his hand as if he'd never thrown it. "What the..." he said, shaking his head. "This store is slowed. Damn Mages!" How could they slow a whole store?
He ignored the bafflement written plainly on the vendor's face as he turned to leave the store, tossing the charm on the counter unceremoniously. He had to get out of there. Outside, his minions waited expectantly where he left them. At the sight of them, Fulguralis rubbed his temples.
"Headache, Boy?" a familiar, tinny voice asked. The Warlock looked up to find his Death Knight sister in a rather revealing gown. A heart shape seemed to be cut out of the bosom. He raised an eyebrow. She shrugged, "It was a gift."
"From who?" he said icily.
She just grinned back. "You should be more concerned about what you're going to get that wife of yours. Leave the ice to me."
Fulguralis just sighed.
"Oh, don't worry, Boy. I've got your back. C'mon," Decedereful said, taking his arm. "This is what sisters are for, right?"
"Taking the minions for a walk!" he had yelled lamely, slamming the door behind him and finding the nearest port to Dalaran. Now he stood with his back to a wall, both figuratively and literally, and he had no clue what to get her.
"ENOUGH!" He yelled, holding up his hands and silencing his minions. "One at a time. Spaz, you first," the Warlock pointed.
"IthinkyoushouldgethertonsandtonsantonsofCANDY! I-mean-really-what-girl-doesn't-like-candy? I-love-candy! She'll-love-candy! Get-her-candy!" The Imp suggested mildly.
"Okay, thanks. I'd ask you to wait while everyone else has a turn, but I know that's not going to happen, so shift your phase so we don't have to hear you."
"But-I-don-wanna-" he was cut off as his form suddenly got a bit translucent. His mouth still moved, but his voice was lost in the parallel realm where he now half existed. The little guy may argue, but he could not ignore his master's wishes.
"Double B. Go," Fulguralis said.
"Welllll. If you want the advice of this loooove walker, you should buy her a staaar. Then you can be like: Baby, look, you a star. She'll be butter in your arms after that. Ain't no girl can resist such a heavenly gift." Berry Blue leaned back with a satisfied look on his face.
"Hmm, not bad but tough to get. The Mages are pretty protective about their constellations. What do you have for me Nighty?"
"A Big Love Rocket," the Succubus said with a mischievous grin.
"Seriously?" Fulguralis asked.
"Mmmhmmm," she purred.
"No, just no. Do you even know what that is?" the Warlock ask, arms spread wide.
Well, I've heard it has to do with mounting. You see, when a man-" she began excitedly.
"Not even going there," Fulguralis cut her off. She stuck out her tongue.
"It has Zhevra seats," she pouted.
"You guys are all worthless," Fulguralis said, throwing up his arms and stalking away. His minions began to follow, but one sharp look from the Warlock froze them in place. He stalked quickly into the nearest store, shaking his head.
His eyes swept the room and he found a vendor. Striding up to the man he attempted to ask for advice, but a sharp pull on his robe diverted him. Looking down, he found Sparkie, his Felhunter, wagging his tail excitedly with a bracelet in his jaws. Fulguralis held out his hand and the pup deposited the jewelry. It appeared to be a charm of some sort.
"How much for this?" Fulguralis asked, holding the charm in front of the vendor's face.
The vendor stared back at him blankly.
"Hello? Customer here!" Fulguralis waved.
The man stared straight ahead, not seeming to notice him.
"HOOOOOW MUUUUCH FOOOR THIS?" Fulguralis yelled.
The vendor blinked, slowly. And by slowly, I mean, f-in slowly. Fulguralis looked around and noticed that something was wrong. Everyone moved in slow, jerky motions and sounds seemed as if coming from a great distance. Even his own movements felt as if slicing through air turned into a thick, gelatinous ooze.
As he was scanning the room, he noticed that just about everyone in the shop was holding the same charm he had. In fact, one man was exiting the front door, jerky step by jerky step, with a whole bag of the buggers. Even as he watched, the man seemed to take one step backward for every two steps forward. It was an epic battle just to exit the door. Fighting the ooze, Fulguralis return his own attention to the charm in his hand. He didn't want to get his wife the same thing all the other men were getting their wives.
Abruptly, time seemed to speed back up. There was a small moment when everyone in the room looked a bit disoriented, patting robes and shuffling feet as if to ascertain that they were where they thought they were. Then business resumed as usual.
"What the fel was that?" Fulguralis said.
"I'm sorry, sir, how can I help you?" the vendor said in an annoyingly perky voice.
"Oh, now you speak," the Warlock grunted, flinging the charm at the man's face. It seemed to freeze in the air for a moment before seeming to disappear. Fulguralis was surprised to find the charm back in his hand as if he'd never thrown it. "What the..." he said, shaking his head. "This store is slowed. Damn Mages!" How could they slow a whole store?
He ignored the bafflement written plainly on the vendor's face as he turned to leave the store, tossing the charm on the counter unceremoniously. He had to get out of there. Outside, his minions waited expectantly where he left them. At the sight of them, Fulguralis rubbed his temples.
"Headache, Boy?" a familiar, tinny voice asked. The Warlock looked up to find his Death Knight sister in a rather revealing gown. A heart shape seemed to be cut out of the bosom. He raised an eyebrow. She shrugged, "It was a gift."
"From who?" he said icily.
She just grinned back. "You should be more concerned about what you're going to get that wife of yours. Leave the ice to me."
Fulguralis just sighed.
"Oh, don't worry, Boy. I've got your back. C'mon," Decedereful said, taking his arm. "This is what sisters are for, right?"
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Here's An Idea
Labels: General Gaming 4 comments
I wrote earlier in the week about duo'ing experiences, with a special emphasis on your significant other. Like I mentioned there, I rather enjoy the topic and got a couple of good responses to boot. I've also found that a vast majority of my thinking happens in the shower. Back when I used to write emo songs and poetry (didn't we all have those awkward years?), this was particularly problematic. I mean, I slept with a notebook by my bed (as any good writer could advise you to do, who knows when ideas will come), but you couldn't very well take a pen and paper in the shower. Well, you could, but I wouldn't suggest it. Unless you're writing your emo song with a strong rain metaphor and using a lot of diminished chords.
In any case, I was in the shower the other day when an idea spit out of the nozzle and smacked me in the back of the unsuspecting head. With my Pro Couples Gaming movement, I wondered why there didn't seem to be any games geared specifically for couples. Think about it. Can you come up with any games for couples? I can't. The best I can do is Co-op on things like Modern Warfare too, but despite my wife's best intentions, she is just not an FPS person. She tends to freak out when someone is shooting at her, go figure.
There are a lot of multiplayer games, but I'm talking about true cooperative games. I think one of the big draws for MMO's right now is that couples can play them together. I know a good amount of gaming couples and I've gotta believe they represent a significant market portions. At least as significant as some of the other niche markets that games have been designed for. So I say, why not?
I'll let you guys in on a little secret (Fuu, look! Shiny object distraction! Stop reading for a while! Go grab a coffee.): I'm going to pick up Dragon Age: Origins as a Valentines Day gift for Fuu. You can get away with that shit when you're a gaming couple, and I love it. I mean, we'll have a nice dinner together too, but we're not doing anything extravagant this year on account of being in the market for a house. Houses are expensive. Games, even with a ~$60 price tag, are not. I'm sure I don't have to expound on the fiscal benefits of gaming. Sure you may need to invest in a console or a decent computer, but the price per entertainment hour is probably the best bang for your buck out there. But I digress. The point here is that I'm going to pick up a single player, RPG style game that my honey has been "dropping hints" about for the last few weeks (you know, whereby the female of the couple says things like "Honey, have you seen _____. I think _____ looks neat" *wink wink* *nudge nudge*).
As I was pondering over our shared love for RPGs, I thought: wouldn't it be great if we could play the game cooperatively. Sure, we could help each other out, take turns, and the like, but I'm talking true cooperative play. I'm not sure I've ever seen that in an RPG, and I think there could totally be a market for that. Here's some of the things I would like to see in such a game:
In any case, I was in the shower the other day when an idea spit out of the nozzle and smacked me in the back of the unsuspecting head. With my Pro Couples Gaming movement, I wondered why there didn't seem to be any games geared specifically for couples. Think about it. Can you come up with any games for couples? I can't. The best I can do is Co-op on things like Modern Warfare too, but despite my wife's best intentions, she is just not an FPS person. She tends to freak out when someone is shooting at her, go figure.
There are a lot of multiplayer games, but I'm talking about true cooperative games. I think one of the big draws for MMO's right now is that couples can play them together. I know a good amount of gaming couples and I've gotta believe they represent a significant market portions. At least as significant as some of the other niche markets that games have been designed for. So I say, why not?
I'll let you guys in on a little secret (Fuu, look! Shiny object distraction! Stop reading for a while! Go grab a coffee.): I'm going to pick up Dragon Age: Origins as a Valentines Day gift for Fuu. You can get away with that shit when you're a gaming couple, and I love it. I mean, we'll have a nice dinner together too, but we're not doing anything extravagant this year on account of being in the market for a house. Houses are expensive. Games, even with a ~$60 price tag, are not. I'm sure I don't have to expound on the fiscal benefits of gaming. Sure you may need to invest in a console or a decent computer, but the price per entertainment hour is probably the best bang for your buck out there. But I digress. The point here is that I'm going to pick up a single player, RPG style game that my honey has been "dropping hints" about for the last few weeks (you know, whereby the female of the couple says things like "Honey, have you seen _____. I think _____ looks neat" *wink wink* *nudge nudge*).
As I was pondering over our shared love for RPGs, I thought: wouldn't it be great if we could play the game cooperatively. Sure, we could help each other out, take turns, and the like, but I'm talking true cooperative play. I'm not sure I've ever seen that in an RPG, and I think there could totally be a market for that. Here's some of the things I would like to see in such a game:
- Choice of complimentary roles - I spoke before about how duo'ing can be fun and effective when each person takes a role. Doesn't have to be tank/heals/dps either. In an RPG that isn't an MMO, you don't have to worry about things like "bring the player not the class", so you could make classes that are extremely synergistic and each with key abilities for certain fights.
- Perhaps solo arcs to the same story line - Many of my favorite novels have seemingly divergent story lines that converge at the end for an epic conclusion. You could combine solo and cooperative content so that they actually fit together in a story. Not two separate modes, but side quests that each person could do, say when the other is busy, that would progress their character yet not totally leave the other person behind.
- A love story between two playable characters - I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for love stories in RPGs. I feel that an RPG without some sort of love interest is totally missing a key facet. Wouldn't it be cool if your love interest could be, well, your love interest?
- Interaction on a small scale - Maybe this stretches the "couple" thing a bit to include more, but it would be neat to have playable characters play off one another. Look at table games like the classic Dungeons and Dragons. These games aren't massive and thus allow for a lot of player to player interaction. I would say it's one of the main draws of the genre. Why, for our electronic RPGs, do we only have "massive" or "not massive". Games like Mario Party or Rock Band were big hits because you could just have a few friends and interact together. Why not extend the same thing to RPGs?
- All the usual RPG elements - I didn't want to list these all separately, but it stands to reason that I don't want things like moving cinematics, engaging storylines, well-designed UIs, smooth combat systems, and the like to be thrown to the wind. A lot of us love RPGs and where they've been taken in the last few years. This should be in addition to the current trend, not in place of.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
'Locks Can Heal Too
Labels: Rant 6 comments
So it's finally gotten to me. I'm pissed because I never got tagged for this whole Ring of Healers crap that Jessabelle @ Miss Medicina cooked up. I'm probably, like, the best 'lock healer there is, and I never get a tag. Not only that, but 'lock healers were woefully underrepresented in the webring. Then the webring was revisited and Jbelle took the "high road" playin' all like she doesn't "do memes" and junk. Unfortunately for her, this sorta-kinda opened the door for me to respond as if I had responded in the first place. Which is what I'm going to do. I will be silent no longer, though it may shatter some illusions of her own personally fleeting awesomeness since, like, the truth will be told that I am in fact the ONLY healer in our raid group. I mean, sure she sets it up wonderfully with things like "class synergies" and "balance", but really, no one cares about that crap. I've always maintained a group of 10 warlocks would be the best approach to any fight, and really you only need one, especially if you can heal as well as I can.
(Did I mention the real reason Jbelle switched to Disc was because she couldn't stand seeing me power-of-ten her on the HPS meters and needed an excuse like "well I'm preventing damage so you don't see my HPS accurately reflected... yadda yadda WoLspreadsheet yadda." Well I CREATE MOAR DAMAGE so that I can heal MOAR, as any good healer should do. DIAF, what do I care? All of my spells have a chance to proc a b-rez.)
In any case, I pulled a copy of the questions from Tam's site, cuz there was no way I could stoop down low enough to pull them from Jbelle herself. After spending at least three days clearing out all the humorous and thought-provoking crap that he'd written in there (I mean, the guy is certainly long-winded even if loquacious. His WPT meter (that's Words Per Thought) rivals my own HPS in terms of awesomeness. And, like my own heals... every damn one of them REEKS OF QUALITY. He is to blogging what 'locks are to heals), after those forty days and forty nights of word clearing, I put in my own answers.
The New Questions:
1. Reread your original answers to the questions. With the benefit of hindsight, score your own work in terms of its cringeworthiness.
My work is always amazing. Even invented words like "cringeworthiness" can describe my heals. That is, if you mean a "cringe of win". Myself, I focus more on the "worthy" part, of which all other healing classes are not... worthy. You are not worthy. If there is one thing I do poorly, it is not being proud enough as a 'lock healer. After talenting into Siphon Life and Haunt for jollies, I've been seeing Haunt overheals as low as 100%. I just can't get it to go any lower, but that's what happens when you're all win. Humility is for chumps.
2. Has your class’s healing improved in the area you identified as its weakest?
Can you be buffed from perfect to more perfect? If so, 'lock healers were. Of course, since we didn't really have a healing "weakness" so to speak, all our our healing strengths were buffed. Like making Superman immune to Kryptonite. Hellfire, Life Tap... huge buffs to offset our heals to let us heal more. Other healers will love what I bring to the healing table. Huge healing potential. Cash Money.
3. Have you changed your “least favored class to heal with”?
(I changed from favoured because I'm not sure what that word translates to here in the States. Scholars have debated for years about it, but I think the question makes more sense if we look at the favored class and not some crazy made-up word that no one knows what it means.)
Hunters, definitely. Before I think I said Mages, but hunters are my least favorite healing partner. They have like, another pet and junk and do that crappy feign death thing that doesn't allow me to over heal them more and pad my stats. It's all about topping the charts, and they're uber self-conscious about losing to a Warlock.
4. Did you read the entries from others in the webring, especially your class?
No. Why would I need the help of other healer classes? What do you think this is about, building a community? Pscheah... as if. l2webring nubs.
5. If Yes to #4, did you learn anything that made you a better healer?
Even though I said "no", I'm going to answer this because I'm not going to be gipped a damn question due to simple honesty. If there is one thing I learned, and only one thing, mind you, it's that I need to stack more hit as a healer. Hit never goes out of style and it's on EVERYTHING. Jbelle taught me about the importance of hit as healer... and by taught I mean she only reminded me that I already knew it cuz I know everything there is to know about healers. Board it.
6. What tools/resources or information do you think you would need to improve as a healer and how could that help the community at large?
I need a meter that counts higher. Recount sometimes just freaks out with my abnormally large HPS. Plus, the combat log can't handle my awesomeness. It just pukes saying things like "A more powerful spell is active" and "working as intended" and "72 hour ban for healing with seige weapons". I can't help it that all of my spells do seige heals. I'm building walls, not bubbles. Bubbles can pop.
7. What did you identify as your worst habit as a healer? Have you improved in this area?
If you call winning at everything forever a bad habit, then that's it. I've improved by letting some others share the spotlight from time to time. Like every now and then I life tap to trick Jbelle into throwing a bubble on me (like any mob would ever have the audacity to attack me!), which I then pop and use her tears to fuel my own heals. That's just how it works though. Lock heals run on the tears of Priests. You heard it here first.
8. What did you list as your favorite healing spell and your least used healing spell for your class? Are these answers still true? If they have changed, what caused the change (i.e. patch fix, different healing environment, etc)?
My favorite healing spell is the under 5% health life tap. Since healing is not really the issue, it's really fun to see how much you can freak out the other healers before you swoop back in and carry all of them to victory. I think last time I listed Hellfire Suicide for it's gear durability damage avoidance purposes, but since my heals have now been patched to also heal durability, the utility is just no longer needed. I mean, your gearscore is higher when your durability is topped off, so you gotta keep that shit up anyways. Life Tapping below 5% is a purely frivolous joyride for all healers.
9. I made up this question so that I have one more question than everyone and thus win at questioning. The question is: If you had to say one thing to the creator of the original webring, what would you say?
Welcome to the jungle, baby.
(Note: No braincells were harmed in the making of this post as none were used.)
(Did I mention the real reason Jbelle switched to Disc was because she couldn't stand seeing me power-of-ten her on the HPS meters and needed an excuse like "well I'm preventing damage so you don't see my HPS accurately reflected... yadda yadda WoLspreadsheet yadda." Well I CREATE MOAR DAMAGE so that I can heal MOAR, as any good healer should do. DIAF, what do I care? All of my spells have a chance to proc a b-rez.)
In any case, I pulled a copy of the questions from Tam's site, cuz there was no way I could stoop down low enough to pull them from Jbelle herself. After spending at least three days clearing out all the humorous and thought-provoking crap that he'd written in there (I mean, the guy is certainly long-winded even if loquacious. His WPT meter (that's Words Per Thought) rivals my own HPS in terms of awesomeness. And, like my own heals... every damn one of them REEKS OF QUALITY. He is to blogging what 'locks are to heals), after those forty days and forty nights of word clearing, I put in my own answers.
The New Questions:
1. Reread your original answers to the questions. With the benefit of hindsight, score your own work in terms of its cringeworthiness.
My work is always amazing. Even invented words like "cringeworthiness" can describe my heals. That is, if you mean a "cringe of win". Myself, I focus more on the "worthy" part, of which all other healing classes are not... worthy. You are not worthy. If there is one thing I do poorly, it is not being proud enough as a 'lock healer. After talenting into Siphon Life and Haunt for jollies, I've been seeing Haunt overheals as low as 100%. I just can't get it to go any lower, but that's what happens when you're all win. Humility is for chumps.
2. Has your class’s healing improved in the area you identified as its weakest?
Can you be buffed from perfect to more perfect? If so, 'lock healers were. Of course, since we didn't really have a healing "weakness" so to speak, all our our healing strengths were buffed. Like making Superman immune to Kryptonite. Hellfire, Life Tap... huge buffs to offset our heals to let us heal more. Other healers will love what I bring to the healing table. Huge healing potential. Cash Money.
3. Have you changed your “least favored class to heal with”?
(I changed from favoured because I'm not sure what that word translates to here in the States. Scholars have debated for years about it, but I think the question makes more sense if we look at the favored class and not some crazy made-up word that no one knows what it means.)
Hunters, definitely. Before I think I said Mages, but hunters are my least favorite healing partner. They have like, another pet and junk and do that crappy feign death thing that doesn't allow me to over heal them more and pad my stats. It's all about topping the charts, and they're uber self-conscious about losing to a Warlock.
4. Did you read the entries from others in the webring, especially your class?
No. Why would I need the help of other healer classes? What do you think this is about, building a community? Pscheah... as if. l2webring nubs.
5. If Yes to #4, did you learn anything that made you a better healer?
Even though I said "no", I'm going to answer this because I'm not going to be gipped a damn question due to simple honesty. If there is one thing I learned, and only one thing, mind you, it's that I need to stack more hit as a healer. Hit never goes out of style and it's on EVERYTHING. Jbelle taught me about the importance of hit as healer... and by taught I mean she only reminded me that I already knew it cuz I know everything there is to know about healers. Board it.
6. What tools/resources or information do you think you would need to improve as a healer and how could that help the community at large?
I need a meter that counts higher. Recount sometimes just freaks out with my abnormally large HPS. Plus, the combat log can't handle my awesomeness. It just pukes saying things like "A more powerful spell is active" and "working as intended" and "72 hour ban for healing with seige weapons". I can't help it that all of my spells do seige heals. I'm building walls, not bubbles. Bubbles can pop.
7. What did you identify as your worst habit as a healer? Have you improved in this area?
If you call winning at everything forever a bad habit, then that's it. I've improved by letting some others share the spotlight from time to time. Like every now and then I life tap to trick Jbelle into throwing a bubble on me (like any mob would ever have the audacity to attack me!), which I then pop and use her tears to fuel my own heals. That's just how it works though. Lock heals run on the tears of Priests. You heard it here first.
8. What did you list as your favorite healing spell and your least used healing spell for your class? Are these answers still true? If they have changed, what caused the change (i.e. patch fix, different healing environment, etc)?
My favorite healing spell is the under 5% health life tap. Since healing is not really the issue, it's really fun to see how much you can freak out the other healers before you swoop back in and carry all of them to victory. I think last time I listed Hellfire Suicide for it's gear durability damage avoidance purposes, but since my heals have now been patched to also heal durability, the utility is just no longer needed. I mean, your gearscore is higher when your durability is topped off, so you gotta keep that shit up anyways. Life Tapping below 5% is a purely frivolous joyride for all healers.
9. I made up this question so that I have one more question than everyone and thus win at questioning. The question is: If you had to say one thing to the creator of the original webring, what would you say?
Welcome to the jungle, baby.
(Note: No braincells were harmed in the making of this post as none were used.)
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