Lazy Link Monday

We've been losing a lot of big blogs lately, but a lot of great new ones have been popping up. I thought I'd share a little link love with some of the new stuff I've found over the past couple of weeks.

Leading off we have, Pierre @ Leading A Guild - As he defines it: "This isn't going to be two posts about how to get signatures to start a mediocre attempt at a raiding guild. This is about building communities and improving the lives of everyone you come into contact with." I think we can all agree with such an auspicious goal, and he's got some great posts up to boot.

On deck, Jessabelle @ Miss Medicina -Good friend, player, and commenter. Fellow EGA member and great healer. Not to mention quite full of snark. She's guest posted here and I already know she's a great writer, so I have equally high expectations for her blogging endeavors. If healing is your thing or you just want to pick up a thing or two from the other side of the role road, I'd check j-belle out.

In the hole, Draxi @ The Noob Lock - A new 'lock blog? What's not to love? I always like to encourage more 'locks to get in on the game. Stop by and encourage him to keep writing!

Batting clean-up is Tel @ Raid Knight - You set 'em up, he'll knock 'em down. Seriously though, I've seen this new blog linked on several sites now and wandered over for a read. I don't tank on my DK but that doesn't stop his posts from being exceedingly well written and just over all a bunch of fun. So far, he's good for a lawl in just about every post and I look forward to more out of this camp.

Finally, while not a blog, I've been power levelling engineering on my DK lately (spending all that money I got from getting Ambassador through the tournament), and apart from the wowwiki "economical" training guides, I found some great ones at The Noob School. They also have a very basic collection of specs, but the profession guides really seem to shine. I didn't much like the wiki for mid 300's engineering (wanted me to get like 900+ pieces of Fel Iron Ore), and this is where I went for a viable alternative. It's definitely going to go in my "resources" section over there...

Now, back to reading and commenting :-).

RP: Maraudon

Last night, Tordun, the Dwarf, and I were trying to deliver these items that we snaked off of some stupid morons inside some cave in southern Desolace. The area was the home of many creatures that were not much weaker than us. But hey, we're on our 50th season now… we got this.

So, Tordun hesitantly stepped into the shadows of the cave feeding off of my courage. We walked up to the first elite-looking monster and he braced himself. I shielded him while he and I pew pewed that little plant down to the ground. Ok Ok, that wasn't so bad. We can do this. Next, a group of three of these foliage monstrosities. Tordun looked back at me with sweat on his brow. His expression of concern didn't make me falter in the slightest. I knew what I was doing and he was a paladin, he can take it. I shielded him from the initial attacks and cursed the mobs and watched.

Tordun's arms grew heavy and he started to slowly weaken while I tried to decide if I wanted to stop attacking. Oh man, he's really going down fast. I step out of my shadowy mist to save my friend from the plant fiends. I throw on another shield to save him from some incoming damage but I know that it wont hold out very much longer. They are swinging and ripping at his armor too fast. The small strength encouragements that I'm giving him just aren't cutting the mustard dogs here. I need to act fast or he'll be smashed!

A critical strike lands from one of my spells and the plant sways. Come on you stupid bastard! Hit the floor! Torduns's about to pass out when the final plant sinks to the floor and it's green tundrils curl up and stop. Phew! We look at each other and let out an uncomfortable laugh. I knew that there were other groups of these things and now I know we can handle them.

We creep into the adjoining room to investigate the next task at hand. Oh great! I've heard of these guys… slimes. They are slow and stupid but if they get a hold of you, they'll do the worst. I instruct Tordun to stay away from them and just watch the ranged master at work. Stretching out my arms, my knuckles crack. Watch this!

I see a small group of two and anger the closest one. I start to leech life from the ooze and I slowly watch my step backwards to avoid their violent tantrums of green goo. Their health is starting to drop… hell yeah! I'm doing it! Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tordun's face turn into a grin and he charges in. Stupid Paladin, you couldn't just sit back. He rushes in and starts to hack at the ooze to no avail. The green goo begins to corrode his plate and starts burning his skin. Persistent little dwarf isn't he. I throw another shield but I cant stop moving or I'll be caught in the goo's trap.

Well, I have a job to do and if he just wont listen to my superior intellect, then he'll just have to sit this one out face down in the dirt. Oh, here he goes; going… going….. GONE! I hear the moan of the paladin. The corrosive acid finally did him in. Focus Abigora, Focus. I'm running out of space here. The ground was cluttered with leaves & roots making it very hard to navigate. I see the first ooze start to bubble and squirt out. HA! I got one! It turned into what looked like a gelatinous goo mold on a picnic during the Summer festival in Tanaris. Success!

The second slime slides over his previous companion with his mind set on seeking his revenge. Tordun's spirit had left so I knew that was up to me to finish this on my own. My heel caught a hidden root and I tumble backwards into a bush. The thorns pierce through my robes and tug at my hair. I can see blood trickling down my arms and legs. This ooze just wont quit! I start to panic, kicking my way backwards through the bush. I'm such a goner. In my last ditch attempt, I curse him and shield my body. I don't know if this will hold but it must! My arms are aching from the cuts and scrapes but I found the strength to cover my eyes. I don't want to see this… my final moments before…

The world stopped. The pain that I was expecting from the Ooze never came. What the?! Is he too stupid to look in the bush for me? I lower my arm to see my attacker in a green pool. I inspect my robes to untangle my snags from the bush's grip. I can't believe I actually did it! I've never been able to succeed in such a battle before. This is what it feels like to hold the power of shadows in my soul. I LOVE IT!

A sigh of relief washes over me. As soon as I regained my thoughts, a small hand reaches out for mine. My eyes slowly followed the big burly forearms of the dwarf to his face. Tordun, having returned to his body, lifts me out and helps me bandage the scrapes on my arms and legs. He was such a great friend to follow me into this horrible place, and I let him eat dirt. As I look into his face, the only thing I could think about was that cute warlock that I had met in that tavern back in Stormwind. He was so… yummy. Next time I see him, I'll definitely buy him a Dwarven Stout.

Stupid Mages and Their Spawning

I read a literal "lol" post yesterday over at Critical QQ regarding five facts about mages that I would suggest even to the warlocking general public. Our hatred for mages is well known, but don't let the mage bloggery throw you off... this is some good stuff. There's even two rather positive warlock comments in there. The first being an admission of hatred for the mage-killer that is our felpup. The second, of course, is the reference to "gleeful" life tapping to scare healers... which I take great pride in.

Which brings me to my point of the day. The whole mage mirror image thing is the bane of my existence. I mean, one mage is bad enough, but then copies pop up and its like a Kinko's took a shit on my raid. You've got chaotic spells coming from odd places. They don't stack up properly. Sometimes they obsequiously creep towards the boss like they're going to run in an melee or something dumb. They crowd my screen with their shenanigans.

And... they... die.

Now, normally you won't hear me QQ'ing about a mage dying. However, when the copies die, they make the same sound as a real mage dying. Then I'm getting all excited for nothing. They're a complete tease! Jaina and her posse. Teases! If Jaina were a warlock, we'd have seen her dancing in her birthday suit on a tavern table at least 666 times by now. What are you playing at, Jaina, giving all these mages copies of themselves? It's like a mage orgy. And I, for one, think it needs to stop!

Why can't the mage copies be of a different shade of color? Perhaps when they die they could just, fade away. Or even go "poof" in a ballroom magician-like puff of smoke.

You know who else hates your copies mages? Healers and tanks. All of 'em.

How many times has a healer wasted the good heal on your copy? It's absurd! I know healers feel me on this. And tanks? Well, one sits across from me in the game room every raid and freaks right the hell out when she hears the "death cry" go out across the speakers. You see, tanks are well-trained animals that tend to listen for things like cries of death to make sure a Dark Touched Warrior isn't running roughshod among the clothies. They hear your copies announcing the end of their little mage-party and think they've missed an add. It's just plain rude.

In fact, as a RL who is in the same room as his tank, we have developed a simple form of communication for many things. Now, when that death cry goes out, I simply say (in that tone of voice): "mages..." And we know what you've been doing. We know. Naughty Naughty Mages.

So do us all a favor and go see a therapist or get some pills or something to cure this unwanted case of Magophrenia If you can't do that, at least dip those posing bastards in paint and gag them or something. Trust me, it won't ruin the fun of your Magorgy. You can take your petting zoo with you too, I'm gonna AoE it anyways.

And Euripedes, I do understand about the skull thing, though I'm confused as to this mana pool business. Have you ever just tried cutting yourselves? It's fairly simple really and can be quite fun. And I feel ya about the thankless jobs. If you're the Gatekeeper of the Inn, we're undoubtedly the Keymaster what with the summons and all. You have Strudel, we have cookies. Don't let it go to your head. People don't really thank their minions until they get a fire bolt in the back of the head. I think warlocks wouldn't hate mages so much if y'all would just grow a spine and stop trying to be so damn nice. We're warlocks and we're are trying to make your lives difficult. It's what we do. Deal with it.

(In all seriousness though, that was a great article. I just had to turn the warlock loose)

Setting A Gear Limit: The Easy Way Out?

One of my alliance-mates, commenter, and fellow Harry Potter enthusiast shot me a good writing prompt yesterday. Here's what she wrote:

Here is an interesting question you might want to address (Wow, look at me giving you prompts!). Should casual guilds/alliances have absolute gear requirements for raids? Such as Ulduar, or even Eye of Eternity? For example, should we require anyone who wants to raid Ulduar to have the "Superior" achievement, or all items item level 200+ (and make exceptions for things like trinkets maybe? hmm.) This is something I've been thinking about lately, as we get closer to Ulduar. Plus, a few of us tried to do EoE over the weekend, and it went very badly.
-jbelle

This is an interesting question, indeed. When is it okay or even expected to have "gear requirements"? I think traditionally this is seen as a "hardcore" approach to raiding, but with the increased accessibility of the WotLK raids, it is likely a question some "casual" guilds are asking themselves. I think the answer to this question is really two-fold.

The first question we'd need to answer is:

What does requiring a certain gear level really do for you?

If we're going to entertain the idea of introducing a gear requirement for our raids, it's only logical that you first identify the benefit of doing so. On the surface, this is simple: you need to have certain gear to be successful at a certain level of raiding. That is to say, you certainly can't walk into EoE with quest blues and greens and expect to do anything other than fall flat on your face. However, where would you draw the line?

You see, it's been my experience that there are players who "outperform" their gear. I think we've all been in a group with some guy who we inspect and see... ew, this guy's a noob. Then they proceed to beat the guy decked out in purples of the same class. Or you are getting your butt kicked on the charts by another guy and think, well he's obviously over geared. Then you inspect them and fell bad about yourself for a week before vowing to change your spec/class/playstyle. Whatever the case may be, these folks just surprise you with their ability to perform in low quality gear.

On the flip side, you have folks who are epic'ed out and can't beat the tanks on the DPS charts. We've all seen that guy too and just shake our heads in frustration. Especially when you point them to several very good resources and they appear to have the temperament of an angry mule (yes, that is a veiled way of calling them an 'asshat').

The problem here arises that if you were to draw a "line" based on success, you'd have to draw two different lines. How does one take skill into account here? For me, this is the first thing that sort of breaks gear requirements. You're going to really have to make a judgement call based on player skill anyways. So, what are you really gaining? I suppose in the case of our casual guild, it gives us a non-offensive way of denying people who don't belong in the raid. If someone tells you that you're not "good enough", well that sucks and can make for some drama. However, if you just say "your gear isn't good enough", well then, that seems to be a lot easier to accept and correct than "your skill isn't good enough". So basically, you're really just gaining an "out" as a raid leader or making the decision easier.

The second question we need to ask ourselves is:

Is such a rule helpful or even appropriate for a "casual" guild/alliance?

The reason that this is the second question is because you really have to be aware of what the rule means for you before you can decide if its helpful or not.

For our alliance, and I would imagine many other casual raiders, the roster is developed on a "first come, first served" basis. That is to say, we don't have a core team, it's just who's available. This isn't to say you can't have a core team and still be "casual", because I know several people who pull this off (Abi over at kungaloosh is a great example of this. I think he'd definitely tell you his folks are casual, but they had basically the same people every week and tried to keep a consistent "team". This worked really well for them, but certainly would not for my neck of the woods. We just can't get people to commit like he can). Long parenthetical remark aside, the FCFS-basis means that you can't really pick and choose who you want. Therefore, it may well mean that having an "out" is a very good thing for you. As long as your membership is okay with being told "no", it's certainly not going to hurt you a lot. After all, the better gear you have in general, the better your chances of success in any instance.

In my particular situation, however, I don't think we need to go so far as to define a specific limit. It's not that we can't or shouldn't tell people they need better gear to join a certain run, but more that we should avoid painting ourselves into that corner. You see, as soon as you define that line, then it is defined. I know, defined line is defined. Duh, right? But think about that for a moment and I think you'll get what I'm saying.

As long as you're semi-nebulous about the gear limits, you can gracefully reject those that may need more gear than others. There's even a good way to go about doing this by saying things like "you may struggle with your gear in here and it would probably be a good idea to gear up before trying this run." Our people would hear that and say: "Okay, cool, I'll work on that." The only way you may get in trouble is if you let one person in and then deny another who happens to inspect or go out of their way to examine the gear of the other person and try to "call you on it". I say, in that situation, you're well within your right to say: "Look, this person just puts out better numbers than you." Or something along those lines. After all, they asked for it by not just taking the hint.

The point here is that we have wiggle room, and that's generally a good thing in a casual guild as long as you don't abuse it. I think most of our members realize that as a raid leader, my goal is to give us the best chance of success. This isn't some ninja-looting PuG team where you gotta watch your back. They're pretty confident that I'm not trying to play favorites about something when it's not in the best interests of success. It's sort of how we roll as a group.

In general and outside of my situation, I think that unless you're willing to go full "hardcore", it will serve your group better to have more wiggle room. This allows raid leaders to make decisions based on numerous inputs. Instead of setting a limit for each individual player, it's much better to look at the capability of the the group over all. Thus you have to take into account the gear and skill of your players, and make a decision for success. It also helps if you can explain and stick by your decision. Sometimes it may be very difficult to do, but if you're a respected leader, most folks will respect your decision and not get too bent out of shape, especially if you can explain to them what they can do to make themselves better.

For tanks, you really need a certain amount of gear to live. It's up to a RL to have a general idea of what this is. For DPS and healers, it's probably more indicative to look at the numbers they put out than the gear they wear. However, you have to take care to remember all the other factors as well. Like how mana-efficient a healer is or how good your DPS is at CC or whatever other skills might be needed for success. A decision based on all of the information will beat an arbitrary line any day of the week.

The Short Version

The wiggle room you gain by not setting hard limit can definitely work in your favor when you use it correctly, and will probably end up resulting in more long-term success. Setting a gear requirement is an easy way to help ensure a certain amount of success and selectivity. However, it is my opinion that it is most definitely not the best way to go about it. For my groups, I'd just prefer that we are honest with our members when we're putting together a raid and deal with it case-by-case based on what that night's needs are. I think in the long term, we'll see more content and have more fun, which are the goals our alliance was founded on.

The Cure For A (WoW) Hangover

Well, I'm back from my last weekend of debauchery and revelry as a bachelor. My best man rented out a house with a pool and we pretty much played lots of volleyball, drank, and were generally merry. It was actually a stripper-free (by request) party... so sorry to disappoint on the debauchery part. I must say, though, that the Nashville bar scene appears to be generally friendly to bachelorette parties. We went out a few nights and saw gaggles of giggling girls on nearly every corner and in every bar. It was almost surreal. I'm not too crazy about country music either, but there were some pretty talented bands playing there too. All in all, good times.

Which brings me to the gaming tie-in of the day. While I rather enjoyed my break from the world (both real and ...of Warcraft), I find myself a bit "hung over" when trying to get back in the swing of things. Now, normal hangover remedies may include a raw egg or even the hair of the dog that bit you, but how does one cure a WoW hangover?

I suppose that could be taken two ways. The first way would be when you play WoW for 48 hours straight at the expense of your sanity, your eyes are bleeding, and the bedpan is sorely in need of emptying. Okay, I'm not going to even go there, as bedpans just plain freak me out and I'm not sure I could do any ONE thing for 48 hours straight (but that's a personality thing and another post entirely, especially the bedpan part). For me, obviously I'm talking about the "out of touch" feeling I've experienced upon my return to both the game and the community. My reader rarely reaches its current number of 39 unread posts, as I try to keep up to date with what's going on. One weekend away though, and I feel like I'm a bit lost.

My question is, for those of you who have taken a "break" or just had RL aggro for a week or so, how do you get back in the swing of things? For my part, I just try to catch up on my reading, hammer out some words, and sign up for the next raid. Usually, logging in early for some dailies is a definite must before said raid, as I need to limber up my fingers (they are perma-pruned from the pool ya know).

Still, while I know I'll be back in the swing of things by the end of the week, the disconnectedness I feel upon my return is always profound and emotionally confusing. That is to say, for me, I feel that taking "breaks" are a double-edged 2H sword. One one bloody edge, it's good to get out, see friends, have experiences, and generally "unplug" from our normal lives. It can be refreshing, grant new perspectives, and be healthy for your mind and body.

On the other bloody edge, it can create a slightly overwhelmed feeling as you now have to face the things you've been putting off. Returning to a cluttered house, inbox, and to-do list can be stressful in and of itself, and such is where I find myself on this lovely Mon... Tuesday morning (yay for short weeks!).

The Cure? Kel'Thuzad's head on a plate for the second week in a row. A tall order to be sure, but I blame that bastard for every alcohol induced headache I had this weekend. Why? Because death is the only real cure for a hangover.

A UI that would make your Eyes bleed

(Hey, Fulguralis will be out of town all weekend so he has put this uber responsibility to entertain and wow all of you on moi. I understand that he's the writer between the two of us but Dear Lord please dont unsuscribe... he'll kill me when he gets back)

Hi All!

I have been seeing a lot of, "Here's my fancy UI" and then they proceed to have people oowww & awwww over it and be genuinely helpful to others. Well, this post will not be like that. I want you all to see the horrors that I get to look at during my oline experience.

WARNING: May cause serious trama to the brain. Please View with Caution!!!!

BAM!

DEAR LORD IT BURNS! My retinas are peeling off as we speak.

Ok, here's the thing, this is actually an improvement over what it used to look like but I am FAR too embarassed to show you. I have been slowly trying to streamline everything but it's so hard to change from the old ways.

Here's my second confession... I'm a clicker! OH GOD NO!

The thing is, I've actually adapted so well with a clicking/keybinding hybrid that I just can't make myself create a macro. I know that it will make me a better tank and player but I really can't make the jump. I feel that my tanking rotation should be adaptive to any situation and if I have all of my spells "macro"ed I might not be able to use a spell when it's needed. How I have everything set up now is my key bound spells are things that I use constantly. Attack, Seal of Vengence, Holy Shield, Consecrate, and the "I'll smash this mob in the face & make it really angry" spells. The row above are things that I will need during random times (plus my judgements above my seals because well, that just makes sense) The further down the keys/ row of more situational buttons / Oh S%^$t buttons. On the Right hand side you see pally buffs/ taunts. My taunt buttons are large & in your face because you don't need them very often but when you do, you better not miss it.

Now I've seen other paladins that use macros but I just don't understand how they do it. There are just too many spells in our repertoire that I would like to use when I can throw them into my rotation ie exercism or Avenging Wrath (because who doesnt like wing?). I feel that if I made my rotation into a macro, that it would be inflexible (if that's even a word).

I've done some sweet feats of Strength with my clickery (you see what I did there? I took Ful's word & made it better ;)) I have successfully tanked Grobbulous walking backwards and been able to navigate the room & never lose threat & tank the dead side in the Harvester fight on 25-man (also if you see below, I was the MT for our alliances first full clear of 25-man Naxx last night as well). I feel that if I could do that then why would I need to make macros... where is the fun in that?!

Well ok.... I'm breaking down here. I see that clicking is really going to cripple my skills as a player in the long run and I dont want that. I want to strive to be a better tank and Johnny on the spot when it comes to situations where if I press the wrong button, I'll kill everyone. I don't wanna be that guy. I do my research and have the latest and greatest addons to assist me but maybe I'm just failing :( How can I make the transition from a clickery nooblet to an Epic tankidan? Here is my question for you. How did you make the "big" change from Home row to Macro City? If this came natural to you, what other habits have you picked up that you wish you could break?

Come on gang! Pull those skellies out of your closet and face them like the Hero you are!

PS: It will make me feel better :D

First Full 25-Man Clear

This is mostly so I can link it on our website (so you can just ignore my bluster), but also because it was a good night...

I love leading alliance firsts :-)