In completing my dailies last night, I noticed I had eclipsed 150 marks for the first time. It was a momentous occasion, to be sure, and I celebrated accordingly with a super-enthusiastic: "What happens now?"
"Well, what path are you taking?" My ever-informed wife asked.
"There are paths?" Yes, I'm with it. "Ooooh, you mean which NPC am I going to unlock. Got it..."
"..."
"..."
"Right, I have no idea."
Which sent me on a journey of research. Quickly, I realized that the NPC I unlock at this point doesn't really matter. Most guides seem to suggest the Shadow Wardens, due to faster questing, so I went with them. Now, I have to get 150 more to open the other guys. Happy, happy, joy, joy.
I have, however, decided upon my final destination. When I get to the point where I choose my first NPC that actually sells stuff, I'm going with the "Moonwell" option. Theoretically this should open some tailoring recipes for me (I'm a tailor), and there's a nice trinket we can use.
There are things to get from the other vendors, for sure, and your mileage may vary as far as usefulness of the purchased items goes. I'll probably throw down on an armorer second, and then call the ancients last. On my engineer DK, I'm totally going armorer first. Otherwise, I guess we'll just see what we see. From what I've been able to read ahead of time, I think this path makes the most sense.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Subscribing To More Than The Game
Labels: Hot Topic, Shout Out 7 comments
I saw this the other day on MMO Melting Pot. I thought it was a pretty interesting discussion going on. It doesn't really apply to me or the guild I'm in, but interesting all the same. As I struggled to relate, I pondered on why it just didn't seem like an issue to me.
A little background for anyone new around here. My guild is pretty special. Also "special," but that's a different post. We are a small group of friends that raid once a week, for two hours. That's it. We only have about 12 people in guild, so pretty much everyone raids.
We're very casual, but raid time is important to us. It is something we schedule around. We ask people to take the time commitment seriously, and no one has a problem with that. RL comes first, but so does courtesy to your friends (just like in RL, if you want to keep said friends). It works well because we're all on the same page. We may have different playstyles and likes, but what it all comes back to is that we appreciate what we've got going. We're all in the same boat, and we row together, even if our oars are made of different kinds of wood.
As such, you may understand why it was difficult for me to sympathize with the discussion linked above. Obviously, we don't force people to grind or cap on valor points or anything like that. Everyone is responsible for working on their own gear, and they take pride in that. No one wants to be the guy holding us back. No one wants to be dead weight. We help each other out, and we try to get guild groups into heroics as much as possible during the week. Not only does it help with gearing, but it helps with leveling our yet-to-be-maxed guild (we're sitting at level 15).
That being said, I really appreciated the viewpoint of Windsoar at Jaded Alt. In particular, I like how she says that she "refuses to subscribe" to the notion of being forced to cap VP. I thought that was a very apt way to put it.
When we subscribe to WoW, we're subscribing to more than just pixels. It's almost as if you're subscribing to a way of life. Maybe even a religion. And, like a religion, we have many different sects that espouse different notions of what is "right" and "wrong." There a myriad of different biblical interpretations when it comes to WoW. What Windsoar is talking about, then, is supporting religious freedom. If each guild represents its own "nation," then we're discussing the virtues of having a state mandated religion. Namely, forcing a particular playstyle, a certain subscription, upon your guild members.
Maybe tolerance is what we need here. It doesn't always work so easily, though. History has proven that, often, if you give a man an inch he'll take a mile. Yet, we should probably still strive to strike a balance.
And the rules changed based on you guild. Maybe you're a superpower, charged with policing the world. Or maybe you're like us and just a small city-state. I can see where a gigantic nation with aspirations of leading the way (hardcore raiders) might require a more structured form of worship. For us, it is simply not needed.
Like Windsoar says, we're just simply not at the point where that one minor upgrade really makes all that much of a difference. No, far more important to us are things like morale and energy and attention. We need sharp, smart raiders, not mindless drones. I would sacrifice a piece of a gear for a firmer understanding of the fight any day of the week and twice on Sundays. We need to understand the basic tenants of our religion before we graduate to the existential nuances.
To me, it just doesn't make sense to expend all this time and effort on gearing if you aren't going to spend equal amounts on strategy, learning, and teaching. (A lot of hardcore guilds do just that). For every hour you spend killing trolls, I argue that you might benefit from spending an hour reading strats or watching videos. If you're not doing that, then you're not enjoying the benefits of a full subscription. You're just showing up on Sundays, you don't really believe. Maxing gear is the easiest measurable goal. After all, how do you know if someone "studied enough?" Still, it is only one small piece of the puzzle here. Gear does not solve every problem.
At the end of the day, I'm not trying to make a case here that one type of play is better than another. Religion is a personal choice, one you must own. We must find our own paths. I'm simply cautioning that before you drink the cool-aid, before you subscribe to a certain playstyle, you should probably be sure of what's in it. Everything that's in it. Sure, mostly it may be sugar and water, but it only takes one small ingredient to kill you. Is it worth drinking poison to be a "member?"
A little background for anyone new around here. My guild is pretty special. Also "special," but that's a different post. We are a small group of friends that raid once a week, for two hours. That's it. We only have about 12 people in guild, so pretty much everyone raids.
We're very casual, but raid time is important to us. It is something we schedule around. We ask people to take the time commitment seriously, and no one has a problem with that. RL comes first, but so does courtesy to your friends (just like in RL, if you want to keep said friends). It works well because we're all on the same page. We may have different playstyles and likes, but what it all comes back to is that we appreciate what we've got going. We're all in the same boat, and we row together, even if our oars are made of different kinds of wood.
As such, you may understand why it was difficult for me to sympathize with the discussion linked above. Obviously, we don't force people to grind or cap on valor points or anything like that. Everyone is responsible for working on their own gear, and they take pride in that. No one wants to be the guy holding us back. No one wants to be dead weight. We help each other out, and we try to get guild groups into heroics as much as possible during the week. Not only does it help with gearing, but it helps with leveling our yet-to-be-maxed guild (we're sitting at level 15).
That being said, I really appreciated the viewpoint of Windsoar at Jaded Alt. In particular, I like how she says that she "refuses to subscribe" to the notion of being forced to cap VP. I thought that was a very apt way to put it.
When we subscribe to WoW, we're subscribing to more than just pixels. It's almost as if you're subscribing to a way of life. Maybe even a religion. And, like a religion, we have many different sects that espouse different notions of what is "right" and "wrong." There a myriad of different biblical interpretations when it comes to WoW. What Windsoar is talking about, then, is supporting religious freedom. If each guild represents its own "nation," then we're discussing the virtues of having a state mandated religion. Namely, forcing a particular playstyle, a certain subscription, upon your guild members.
Maybe tolerance is what we need here. It doesn't always work so easily, though. History has proven that, often, if you give a man an inch he'll take a mile. Yet, we should probably still strive to strike a balance.
And the rules changed based on you guild. Maybe you're a superpower, charged with policing the world. Or maybe you're like us and just a small city-state. I can see where a gigantic nation with aspirations of leading the way (hardcore raiders) might require a more structured form of worship. For us, it is simply not needed.
Like Windsoar says, we're just simply not at the point where that one minor upgrade really makes all that much of a difference. No, far more important to us are things like morale and energy and attention. We need sharp, smart raiders, not mindless drones. I would sacrifice a piece of a gear for a firmer understanding of the fight any day of the week and twice on Sundays. We need to understand the basic tenants of our religion before we graduate to the existential nuances.
To me, it just doesn't make sense to expend all this time and effort on gearing if you aren't going to spend equal amounts on strategy, learning, and teaching. (A lot of hardcore guilds do just that). For every hour you spend killing trolls, I argue that you might benefit from spending an hour reading strats or watching videos. If you're not doing that, then you're not enjoying the benefits of a full subscription. You're just showing up on Sundays, you don't really believe. Maxing gear is the easiest measurable goal. After all, how do you know if someone "studied enough?" Still, it is only one small piece of the puzzle here. Gear does not solve every problem.
At the end of the day, I'm not trying to make a case here that one type of play is better than another. Religion is a personal choice, one you must own. We must find our own paths. I'm simply cautioning that before you drink the cool-aid, before you subscribe to a certain playstyle, you should probably be sure of what's in it. Everything that's in it. Sure, mostly it may be sugar and water, but it only takes one small ingredient to kill you. Is it worth drinking poison to be a "member?"
Monday, July 11, 2011
What Happened to Demo?
Labels: Reflections, warlocky 9 comments
This may be a knee-jerk reaction from me, but I thought it a good place to perhaps start some conversation. I've not had much of a chance to make use of my Demonology off-spec since Cataclysm dropped, and only recently have I begun running with it more regularly. I used to use it all of the time for dailies, and now that dailies have become a, well, daily occurrence again, it makes sense to revive my favorite solo-spec.
That being said, I have some initial misgivings. I've been wracking my brain all morning, trying to wedge my thoughts into something that vaguely resembles a well-formed thought. However, I cannot. There is no single idea or collection of ideas that I can point to and say: "Here, this is what is bothering me."
Yet, bothered I am. Demo feels clunky. In the past, one of the draws was the simplicity with which you could do moderate DPS. That is to say, where my Affliction spec failed was with short-lived things. The kind of things you might find while doing dailies. Demo shined in these cases. It combined good up-front damage with survivability to make knocking out repeatable quests enjoyable. I felt powerful as Demo where I felt weak as Affliction.
Somewhere along the line, I feel like that's changed. I feel like Demo was pushed a little too far into Affliction territory. But I can't really put my finger on why.
Perhaps it is the rotation. Before I would fire off a curse, an Immolate, and then some bolts. It wasn't a "raid" rotation, but it was great for short lived things. Now, I have a bane and a curse, plus Immolate, and bolting just doesn't feel as powerful as it once was. I'm not sure why. I don't recall any specific nerfs to Demo bolts. Also, the addition of a bane means one more thing to try to throw up. Daily trash just doesn't live that long when you're raid geared.
Perhaps it is the demon. For a while, Demo locks were supposed to use the felling Succubus. I believe now we've been pushed back to the Felguard, but the big guy just doesn't feel as potent as he once was. Maybe it's all perception. I mean, the numbers back him, right? Maybe it's just the fact that that skinny skank is so close in DPS. Also, he seems to die a lot more easily. I miss the old school Chuck Norris Felguard.
Perhaps it's just me. It's been a while and I'm not as fluid with the buttons. My fingers are trained for Affliction, and Demo is just different enough for me to feel like a fish out of water. Before, the two specs played so dissimilar that I just kept it simple and fun. Now, they've added enough complexity to Demo that I feel like I'm doing it wrong. Maybe given time and practice, I'll feel better. After all, popping into epic purple form is still fun as fel.
Still, I just can't shake the feeling that the spec has fundamentally changed for me. This isn't to say it's "for the worse." It may very well be better. I guess I just feel like it's not as easy to flip-flop and feel badass. I wonder what some of you other Warlocks have to say...
That being said, I have some initial misgivings. I've been wracking my brain all morning, trying to wedge my thoughts into something that vaguely resembles a well-formed thought. However, I cannot. There is no single idea or collection of ideas that I can point to and say: "Here, this is what is bothering me."
Yet, bothered I am. Demo feels clunky. In the past, one of the draws was the simplicity with which you could do moderate DPS. That is to say, where my Affliction spec failed was with short-lived things. The kind of things you might find while doing dailies. Demo shined in these cases. It combined good up-front damage with survivability to make knocking out repeatable quests enjoyable. I felt powerful as Demo where I felt weak as Affliction.
Somewhere along the line, I feel like that's changed. I feel like Demo was pushed a little too far into Affliction territory. But I can't really put my finger on why.
Perhaps it is the rotation. Before I would fire off a curse, an Immolate, and then some bolts. It wasn't a "raid" rotation, but it was great for short lived things. Now, I have a bane and a curse, plus Immolate, and bolting just doesn't feel as powerful as it once was. I'm not sure why. I don't recall any specific nerfs to Demo bolts. Also, the addition of a bane means one more thing to try to throw up. Daily trash just doesn't live that long when you're raid geared.
Perhaps it is the demon. For a while, Demo locks were supposed to use the felling Succubus. I believe now we've been pushed back to the Felguard, but the big guy just doesn't feel as potent as he once was. Maybe it's all perception. I mean, the numbers back him, right? Maybe it's just the fact that that skinny skank is so close in DPS. Also, he seems to die a lot more easily. I miss the old school Chuck Norris Felguard.
Perhaps it's just me. It's been a while and I'm not as fluid with the buttons. My fingers are trained for Affliction, and Demo is just different enough for me to feel like a fish out of water. Before, the two specs played so dissimilar that I just kept it simple and fun. Now, they've added enough complexity to Demo that I feel like I'm doing it wrong. Maybe given time and practice, I'll feel better. After all, popping into epic purple form is still fun as fel.
Still, I just can't shake the feeling that the spec has fundamentally changed for me. This isn't to say it's "for the worse." It may very well be better. I guess I just feel like it's not as easy to flip-flop and feel badass. I wonder what some of you other Warlocks have to say...
Friday, July 8, 2011
A More Pressing Engagement
Labels: IC Fridays 0 comments
"Hello, Harrison," Decedereful says shyly. Behind her, Sam the pianist starts up with a different, more lively tune. The patrons that were staring turn away, and the hum of conversation starts up again, lending baseline to the melody.
"Hello, Dece," Harrison responds.
"It has been... too long," Decedereful says.
Harrison simply nods, wavering a bit like a man who's just been shot through the heart. He gallantly tries to hide his discomfort with a smile, but the pain is there. He turns and leads Decedereful to the bar. There, he pours each of them a fresh drink. The two share another long stare. Eventually, Decedereful lids her eyes and looks down at the counter.
"I wasn't sure you were the same," she admits. "Let's see, the last time we met..."
"Was in the Lost City," Harrison finishes.
"How nice, you remembered. But of course, that was the day the Schnottzies marched into Uldum."
"Not an easy day to forget," Harrison says.
"No," Decedereful agrees.
"I remember every detail," Harrison continues. "The Schnottzies wore tan, you wore blue."
Another long stare follows. Once again, Decedereful breaks the moment. She sips at her drink and smiles, but the smile is directed over Harrison's shoulder. He turns.
"I see you have met my bride-to-be, Decedereful," Valentis says.
Harrison chokes on his drink as Dece goes over to put her arms around her man. Valentis kisses her lightly on the check and the couple turns to face the owner of the club. Harrison, having regained his composure, raises his glass.
"How nice for both of you," he says.
"Would you believe that there was a time," Valentis says, "when the war had separated us, and she thought I was dead?"
"I had given up," Dece admits. "I was on the verge of leaving him behind." She casts a significant look at Harrison.
"But fate brought us back together." Valentis smiles at his beloved.
"Charming," Harrison says. He then turns and begins rearranging things on the bar.
"Mr. Jones, it has been a pleasure," Valentis says, clapping the man on the back. "I fear we must take our leave tonight, though. I shall be in touch with you. I am still expecting a message. Please let me know if you hear anything."
"Of course," Harrison says distractedly. "Good night to you both."
He pointedly does not meet Decedereful's eyes. She frowns, but allows herself to be led away. At the door, she casts a brief glance over her shoulder. Harrison is behind the bar, but his eyes are on her. The pain in them is plain and raw. She leaves.
It is hours before the club finally clears out. Harrison exits from the back room and walks over to a table near the piano with several papers in his hand. He spreads them out on the table and stares at them. After a moment, he rises and walks over to the bar. He sets out a glass and pulls out a bottle. Hovering above the glass, he eyes the bottle. Then, he puts the glass away, unused, and returns to the table, bottle in hand. He takes a deep swig as he unfolds the most worn of the papers.
He reads:
Harrison, I cannot go with you or ever see you again. You must not ask why, just believe that I love you. Go, my darling, and Light bless you. Decedereful.
He takes another swig, and looks at the papers the Rogue had given him to hold onto. He supposed they were his now. Along with all the trouble they entail.
"Boss, ain't you going to bed?"
Sam sidles up with a glass in hand. He has just finished cleaning up his area, and is apparently ready to leave. Sensing his friend's mood, he sits across from Harrison at the table.
"Not right now," Harrison replies.
After a long moment and several more swigs, Sam asks, "Ain't you planning on going to bed in the near future?"
"No." Harrison is still staring between the papers.
"You ever going to bed?"
"No!"
Sam takes a drink. "Well, I ain't sleepy either."
"Hello, Dece," Harrison responds.
"It has been... too long," Decedereful says.
Harrison simply nods, wavering a bit like a man who's just been shot through the heart. He gallantly tries to hide his discomfort with a smile, but the pain is there. He turns and leads Decedereful to the bar. There, he pours each of them a fresh drink. The two share another long stare. Eventually, Decedereful lids her eyes and looks down at the counter.
"I wasn't sure you were the same," she admits. "Let's see, the last time we met..."
"Was in the Lost City," Harrison finishes.
"How nice, you remembered. But of course, that was the day the Schnottzies marched into Uldum."
"Not an easy day to forget," Harrison says.
"No," Decedereful agrees.
"I remember every detail," Harrison continues. "The Schnottzies wore tan, you wore blue."
Another long stare follows. Once again, Decedereful breaks the moment. She sips at her drink and smiles, but the smile is directed over Harrison's shoulder. He turns.
"I see you have met my bride-to-be, Decedereful," Valentis says.
Harrison chokes on his drink as Dece goes over to put her arms around her man. Valentis kisses her lightly on the check and the couple turns to face the owner of the club. Harrison, having regained his composure, raises his glass.
"How nice for both of you," he says.
"Would you believe that there was a time," Valentis says, "when the war had separated us, and she thought I was dead?"
"I had given up," Dece admits. "I was on the verge of leaving him behind." She casts a significant look at Harrison.
"But fate brought us back together." Valentis smiles at his beloved.
"Charming," Harrison says. He then turns and begins rearranging things on the bar.
"Mr. Jones, it has been a pleasure," Valentis says, clapping the man on the back. "I fear we must take our leave tonight, though. I shall be in touch with you. I am still expecting a message. Please let me know if you hear anything."
"Of course," Harrison says distractedly. "Good night to you both."
He pointedly does not meet Decedereful's eyes. She frowns, but allows herself to be led away. At the door, she casts a brief glance over her shoulder. Harrison is behind the bar, but his eyes are on her. The pain in them is plain and raw. She leaves.
It is hours before the club finally clears out. Harrison exits from the back room and walks over to a table near the piano with several papers in his hand. He spreads them out on the table and stares at them. After a moment, he rises and walks over to the bar. He sets out a glass and pulls out a bottle. Hovering above the glass, he eyes the bottle. Then, he puts the glass away, unused, and returns to the table, bottle in hand. He takes a deep swig as he unfolds the most worn of the papers.
He reads:
Harrison, I cannot go with you or ever see you again. You must not ask why, just believe that I love you. Go, my darling, and Light bless you. Decedereful.
He takes another swig, and looks at the papers the Rogue had given him to hold onto. He supposed they were his now. Along with all the trouble they entail.
"Boss, ain't you going to bed?"
Sam sidles up with a glass in hand. He has just finished cleaning up his area, and is apparently ready to leave. Sensing his friend's mood, he sits across from Harrison at the table.
"Not right now," Harrison replies.
After a long moment and several more swigs, Sam asks, "Ain't you planning on going to bed in the near future?"
"No." Harrison is still staring between the papers.
"You ever going to bed?"
"No!"
Sam takes a drink. "Well, I ain't sleepy either."
Thursday, July 7, 2011
All CC Not Created Equal
Labels: Patch, warlocky 4 comments
This is a Warlocky Service Announcement, brought to you by the Warlock Coven for Dangerous and Impaired Spellcasting. Take heed if you wish or do not wish to wipe your group. Apparently, all CC is not created equal.
Fear still pulls aggro.
I thought they were changing it to where CC doesn't pull aggro. You can hex. You can sheep. You can sap. You can do all those other things and the mobs just ignore you. But fear... yep, fear is still "working as intended" within the aggro paradigm.
I didn't try banish yet. Has anyone else?
We got enough folks together last night to do a hod-podge trash/rep run in the Firelands. If you haven't been there yet, know that there are a few places where you will need CC. For the most part, it is when you have a pair of fiery Naga healers following a trio of melee-ers. It's obvious: CC the healers, burn the others. To execute this you need two CC'ers.
Wait, Warlocks can CC. Yeah, we have that fear thingy with the glyph. Good stuff. Standard issue by now, right?
On our particular run, we had a Shaman for the hex, and then a possible Rogue sap. Tank tells us to go ahead and lay the CC and then we'll pull... you know, taking advantage of the friendly change.
/whoosh (froggy-style)
"Crap, I missed the sap and they're patting away, can anyone help?"
That's where I should have kept my big warlocky maw shut. Help, you say? Warlock, reply-eth I. Helping is un-warlockery. It's bad enough they make us use a buff on someone now. And a b-rez. And don't get me started on cookies.
"No prob, I'll fear it."
WHY ARE THEY ALL COMING AT ME?!
/splat.
"..."
"I thought CC wasn't supposed to pull aggro now."
Apparently, I thought wrong.
Now, I don't think it said anywhere specifically that fear would benefit from the Azerothian/Planar Being Non-Aggression Pact (APBNAP) made with the mobs. Am I the only one who just, you know, assumed? Is this an oversight, or should fear still pull aggro? I guess it just seems dumb to me to work hard to "validate" our CC with a glyph and then go and ruin it two patches later.
On the upside, I have a great excuse not to be "helpful" anymore.
Fear still pulls aggro.
I thought they were changing it to where CC doesn't pull aggro. You can hex. You can sheep. You can sap. You can do all those other things and the mobs just ignore you. But fear... yep, fear is still "working as intended" within the aggro paradigm.
I didn't try banish yet. Has anyone else?
We got enough folks together last night to do a hod-podge trash/rep run in the Firelands. If you haven't been there yet, know that there are a few places where you will need CC. For the most part, it is when you have a pair of fiery Naga healers following a trio of melee-ers. It's obvious: CC the healers, burn the others. To execute this you need two CC'ers.
Wait, Warlocks can CC. Yeah, we have that fear thingy with the glyph. Good stuff. Standard issue by now, right?
On our particular run, we had a Shaman for the hex, and then a possible Rogue sap. Tank tells us to go ahead and lay the CC and then we'll pull... you know, taking advantage of the friendly change.
/whoosh (froggy-style)
"Crap, I missed the sap and they're patting away, can anyone help?"
That's where I should have kept my big warlocky maw shut. Help, you say? Warlock, reply-eth I. Helping is un-warlockery. It's bad enough they make us use a buff on someone now. And a b-rez. And don't get me started on cookies.
"No prob, I'll fear it."
WHY ARE THEY ALL COMING AT ME?!
/splat.
"..."
"I thought CC wasn't supposed to pull aggro now."
Apparently, I thought wrong.
Now, I don't think it said anywhere specifically that fear would benefit from the Azerothian/Planar Being Non-Aggression Pact (APBNAP) made with the mobs. Am I the only one who just, you know, assumed? Is this an oversight, or should fear still pull aggro? I guess it just seems dumb to me to work hard to "validate" our CC with a glyph and then go and ruin it two patches later.
On the upside, I have a great excuse not to be "helpful" anymore.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The Return of the Random
Labels: Reflections 0 comments
How was your holiday? Mine was great, thanks for asking. No, really. We ate a ton, drove a ton, partied a ton, and played absolutely no WoW. Well, maybe a little when we got home. Great, you say? Definitely. It was Fuu's birthday yesterday! We had ice cream cake, and, of course, everyone else celebrated with us by setting off all those fireworks. (I'll never understand why she gets fireworks on her birthday and I don't on mine in January).
Long story, short: Now I'm exhausted.
Coming back to work and RL after a long weekend never seems as restful as you'd think. However, until we start spawning, we're expected to make the trip to everyone else's parties. Such is the way of things.
Fuu and I have gotten our toons through the first stage of dailies and are steadily working toward our first 150 marks. So far, so good. The dailies seem well designed, IMO. Also, I like that there are some inside and outside of the firelands portal. Usually with dailies, you're always in one locale. A change of scenery is nice. Also, I like anything involving Mylune. Seriously, I need to applaud the writer. Her quest text is entirely too perfect and hilarious. My poor Warlock hates every single quest she has him do. Except punting turtles. He's all right with that.
The addition of a random NPC from lore for one of the quests is a great touch too. It's the one where you take your posse to go kill some invaders on the side of a mountain in Hyjal. If case you haven't noticed already, check out the folks that pop in when you get in the area. You have a few generic "Hyjal Protectors," but then you generally have one "all star." I got Chromie last night. The fact that she yells "You just got Chromie'd" and then makes time jokes is awesome. Her flight form is also a whelpling. Half of the fun is seeing how the NPC's fly. The Archmage has a broom, of course.
The nerf to Soul Swap isn't as bad as I'd feared. It is annoying, but only mildly. I'm sure it's hurting my DPS on short lived stuff, but we haven't really raided yet so I can't speak to how bad it makes me feel. We did do a quick heroic, and my DPS appeared higher, but I think that's simply due to the two epic upgrades you get from doing the Hyjal/Thrall stuff (cape and neck for 'locks I believe).
I've been PvP'ing a bit on my DK too, now that I have more gear to buy. I picked up the epic chest piece first, and will just upgrade each of the pieces one by one. I completed the Hyjal stuff on her too, and am using the epics in PvP. Those will be the last pieces I replace.
The nerf to Hungering Cold is hugely annoying in PvP. I have a half a mind to move the damned spell off my bar. Where once it was highly useful, now it's just cumbersome at best. I was still able to make use of it on occasion, but it takes a lot more forethought. Before it had always been something I tried to do just before I died as an annoyance. Oh well, it was always just a utility spell anyway.
All in all, I'm enjoying the patch. I think they've shown some smart choices and I don't have too much to complain about... at least in my random first week.
Long story, short: Now I'm exhausted.
Coming back to work and RL after a long weekend never seems as restful as you'd think. However, until we start spawning, we're expected to make the trip to everyone else's parties. Such is the way of things.
Fuu and I have gotten our toons through the first stage of dailies and are steadily working toward our first 150 marks. So far, so good. The dailies seem well designed, IMO. Also, I like that there are some inside and outside of the firelands portal. Usually with dailies, you're always in one locale. A change of scenery is nice. Also, I like anything involving Mylune. Seriously, I need to applaud the writer. Her quest text is entirely too perfect and hilarious. My poor Warlock hates every single quest she has him do. Except punting turtles. He's all right with that.
The addition of a random NPC from lore for one of the quests is a great touch too. It's the one where you take your posse to go kill some invaders on the side of a mountain in Hyjal. If case you haven't noticed already, check out the folks that pop in when you get in the area. You have a few generic "Hyjal Protectors," but then you generally have one "all star." I got Chromie last night. The fact that she yells "You just got Chromie'd" and then makes time jokes is awesome. Her flight form is also a whelpling. Half of the fun is seeing how the NPC's fly. The Archmage has a broom, of course.
The nerf to Soul Swap isn't as bad as I'd feared. It is annoying, but only mildly. I'm sure it's hurting my DPS on short lived stuff, but we haven't really raided yet so I can't speak to how bad it makes me feel. We did do a quick heroic, and my DPS appeared higher, but I think that's simply due to the two epic upgrades you get from doing the Hyjal/Thrall stuff (cape and neck for 'locks I believe).
I've been PvP'ing a bit on my DK too, now that I have more gear to buy. I picked up the epic chest piece first, and will just upgrade each of the pieces one by one. I completed the Hyjal stuff on her too, and am using the epics in PvP. Those will be the last pieces I replace.
The nerf to Hungering Cold is hugely annoying in PvP. I have a half a mind to move the damned spell off my bar. Where once it was highly useful, now it's just cumbersome at best. I was still able to make use of it on occasion, but it takes a lot more forethought. Before it had always been something I tried to do just before I died as an annoyance. Oh well, it was always just a utility spell anyway.
All in all, I'm enjoying the patch. I think they've shown some smart choices and I don't have too much to complain about... at least in my random first week.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Meanwhile, Across Azeroth...
Labels: IC Fridays 2 comments
"Did you hear about that nice little Orc that used to live down the street from us? He's getting married!"
"Oh yeah, to who... or should I say what?"
"You're so bad."
"I heard she was pregnant."
"Well, they say you can take the girl out of the Outlands, but you can't take the Outlands out of the girl."
"He got her a huge rock! I mean have you seen the thing?"
"Yeah, what is it? Sandstone?"
"That's how them Orcs do it. Runnin' around, splittin' themselves up, and all that. It'll never last."
"Why couldn't he have found a nice, Light-fearing girl?"
"I heard Jaina was devastated. Cried for days."
"Those were tears of joy."
"Never can tell with that one."
"Durotan is rolling is his grave."
"So is Taretha."
"Hey guys, that's low."
"I know, they're in graves."
"I heard he was born in a cage."
"She could do so much better."
"Yeah, like a free-range Tauren."
"Or a Belf. They're so hawt."
"We are aren't we?"
"Like, totally."
"You know she's just in it for the power and glory."
"A total gold-digger for sure."
"But I thought he was poor now. And just a simple Shaman."
"Psch. No way. Dude's crafty. That's only what he wants her to think."
"Dear Aggra, watch out for the 'til death do us part, part. It's not as contractually binding as you might think. Get a prenup. Hearts and moons, Sylvanas."
"I guess the mother-in-law wasn't too happy."
"Have you sheen her shister?"
"You mean Pip... Pyp... the Maid of Honorish?"
"Total babe... hic!"
"Hello, you've reached Aggra. I can't come to the phone right now, likely because I'm dealing with some sort of elemental emergency and/or saving Thrall's cute butt. Just leave a message after the tone and I'll listen to it in spirit. No really, I can do that. BEEP-"
"Hey Aggra, it's Moira. Bronzebeard... well, Thaurissan now, o'course. Heard the good news an' wanted ta give ya a call. I mean, my wedding was SO PERFECT an' I jus' thought I could give ya some tips. First, have a kid quick. Trust me! Then, pray fer a freak mining accident. You got the rock, now get the throne! If he likes it he shoulda put a throne on it. Amirite? Also, try ta start a civil war. Men fighting o'er you is SO CUTE. When's the bachelorette party?! Call me, bia, we need to chat."
"I heard she's getting a tusk-job for the wedding."
"Yo, mon. Where you be gettin' one o' dose?"
"She's just so... black!"
"I know, Becky. And he's green, get over it."
"Hey, King Varian! Did you hear about Thrall and Aggra?"
"Kill 'em."
"Hey, Warchief! Did you hear about Thrall and Aggra?"
"Kill 'em."
"So when are Jaina and Arthas gettin' hitched?"
"..."
"Too soon?"
"Oh yeah, to who... or should I say what?"
"You're so bad."
"I heard she was pregnant."
"Well, they say you can take the girl out of the Outlands, but you can't take the Outlands out of the girl."
"He got her a huge rock! I mean have you seen the thing?"
"Yeah, what is it? Sandstone?"
"That's how them Orcs do it. Runnin' around, splittin' themselves up, and all that. It'll never last."
"Why couldn't he have found a nice, Light-fearing girl?"
"I heard Jaina was devastated. Cried for days."
"Those were tears of joy."
"Never can tell with that one."
"Durotan is rolling is his grave."
"So is Taretha."
"Hey guys, that's low."
"I know, they're in graves."
"I heard he was born in a cage."
"She could do so much better."
"Yeah, like a free-range Tauren."
"Or a Belf. They're so hawt."
"We are aren't we?"
"Like, totally."
"You know she's just in it for the power and glory."
"A total gold-digger for sure."
"But I thought he was poor now. And just a simple Shaman."
"Psch. No way. Dude's crafty. That's only what he wants her to think."
"Dear Aggra, watch out for the 'til death do us part, part. It's not as contractually binding as you might think. Get a prenup. Hearts and moons, Sylvanas."
"I guess the mother-in-law wasn't too happy."
"Have you sheen her shister?"
"You mean Pip... Pyp... the Maid of Honorish?"
"Total babe... hic!"
"Hello, you've reached Aggra. I can't come to the phone right now, likely because I'm dealing with some sort of elemental emergency and/or saving Thrall's cute butt. Just leave a message after the tone and I'll listen to it in spirit. No really, I can do that. BEEP-"
"Hey Aggra, it's Moira. Bronzebeard... well, Thaurissan now, o'course. Heard the good news an' wanted ta give ya a call. I mean, my wedding was SO PERFECT an' I jus' thought I could give ya some tips. First, have a kid quick. Trust me! Then, pray fer a freak mining accident. You got the rock, now get the throne! If he likes it he shoulda put a throne on it. Amirite? Also, try ta start a civil war. Men fighting o'er you is SO CUTE. When's the bachelorette party?! Call me, bia, we need to chat."
"I heard she's getting a tusk-job for the wedding."
"Yo, mon. Where you be gettin' one o' dose?"
"She's just so... black!"
"I know, Becky. And he's green, get over it."
"Hey, King Varian! Did you hear about Thrall and Aggra?"
"Kill 'em."
"Hey, Warchief! Did you hear about Thrall and Aggra?"
"Kill 'em."
"So when are Jaina and Arthas gettin' hitched?"
"..."
"Too soon?"
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