It's that time again and I hope everyone has a great time this year!
Also, pregrats to everyone who will be getting their holiday achievement mounts. Now, that is dedication!
100 tokens for the pink elephant, eh? /shakefist I was ready to take this holiday off this year, but I guess I will be doing a lot of ram riding.
Take care!
Sunday, September 20
Wednesday, September 16
Overdue update
Ugh, it's been to long since I posted. Crap happened in game, Aion week-long beta came around, and projects at work/home all sucked up my time.
Drama Llama
The shake ups in the guild have been an interesting roller coaster. It seems like when one drama starts, everyone else feels like it's a good time to add to it. After the asshat move from some members mentioned previously, two other long time members left, which had us feeling disoriented and confused. Their reasons for leaving were mixed and not expressed well. In addition, they didn't say good bye to the guild, just a little note to the officers. It left us sad, but knowing a little bit about what is going on behind the screen, it is understandable to a point. We wish them well, and hope that things work out for them.
But we have some new folks who seem to be doing well and more on the way. I'd pimp my blog to say we are recruiting but then you would have to deal with me on a regular basis, and that will probably turn you off. :)
Around the Corner
So while poking around for some writing fodder this morning, I ran across a potentially new achievement: BB King. It says you have to pelt the enemy leaders, presumably with a BB gun.
This, made me laugh out loud for a good couple minutes. I'm sure the youngin's may not get the reference but I had flash backs of A Christmas Story. (Omg, it came out in 1983? I am getting old.)
And I am sure everyone has seen the Pandaren Video. A couple guildies are already rabid for it, and others guess it will be a Cataclysm CE pet. Not sure how it fits into Cataclysm, but since it's BoA it is the closest thing that makes sense since we will already be getting a broodling pet for the anniversary. If only the Kung Fu Fighting music plays a little when it's summoned...
And of course, let us not forget the Ony fight that is coming. From what I was able to see, via videos, not much about the mechanics were changed, which given that spells and abilities have changed drastically since she came out, I worry that it will be a snoozefest. But that's my limited armchair opinion which holds no weight.
And now, for something completely different
I have a scifi lit class this term and I got all giddy when I saw the booklist. Some I have already read which should make my work load a little easier, eh? Now, to pull a Hermione and crack open Snow Crash again. Should be able to get it read before the term starts.
Drama Llama
The shake ups in the guild have been an interesting roller coaster. It seems like when one drama starts, everyone else feels like it's a good time to add to it. After the asshat move from some members mentioned previously, two other long time members left, which had us feeling disoriented and confused. Their reasons for leaving were mixed and not expressed well. In addition, they didn't say good bye to the guild, just a little note to the officers. It left us sad, but knowing a little bit about what is going on behind the screen, it is understandable to a point. We wish them well, and hope that things work out for them.
But we have some new folks who seem to be doing well and more on the way. I'd pimp my blog to say we are recruiting but then you would have to deal with me on a regular basis, and that will probably turn you off. :)
Around the Corner
So while poking around for some writing fodder this morning, I ran across a potentially new achievement: BB King. It says you have to pelt the enemy leaders, presumably with a BB gun.
This, made me laugh out loud for a good couple minutes. I'm sure the youngin's may not get the reference but I had flash backs of A Christmas Story. (Omg, it came out in 1983? I am getting old.)
And I am sure everyone has seen the Pandaren Video. A couple guildies are already rabid for it, and others guess it will be a Cataclysm CE pet. Not sure how it fits into Cataclysm, but since it's BoA it is the closest thing that makes sense since we will already be getting a broodling pet for the anniversary. If only the Kung Fu Fighting music plays a little when it's summoned...
And of course, let us not forget the Ony fight that is coming. From what I was able to see, via videos, not much about the mechanics were changed, which given that spells and abilities have changed drastically since she came out, I worry that it will be a snoozefest. But that's my limited armchair opinion which holds no weight.
And now, for something completely different
I have a scifi lit class this term and I got all giddy when I saw the booklist. Some I have already read which should make my work load a little easier, eh? Now, to pull a Hermione and crack open Snow Crash again. Should be able to get it read before the term starts.
Friday, September 4
Grow a Pair
People come and go in a guild. It's to be expected and happen over anything.
But it is how you leave the guild that is really telling.
Of course, for many, it is uncomfortable. There may be people in the guild that you connected to but outside of that it is no longer fun or possible to stay with the rest of the members.
I've left some guilds in a really bad way and others I have left in a quiet manner-in tells- to try to reduced the drama. I may not have been entirely honest at times, but I tried to not string people along.
Unlike some others.
This morning, one of the officers gets an in game mail that someone in the guild was hacked. The author of the letter was an RL friend of hacked person. The hacked person was an officer.
So, we thought it was strange that the hacked person didn't wipe our bank. And, server transfer two level 80s. Ok, it's happened before, but a hacker would be nuts to leave a guild bank alone.
As we are in officer vent discussing what happened, I search the Armory to find the characters. Turns out, they joined a guild of an ex member, and look! He's an officer in that guild now. He changed the name of his main, but left his alt intact.
What a coincidence.
To be hacked, join a guild filled with names I know, and be an officer of that guild is just amazing!
I'm bitter. As much as I want to give this person the benefit of the doubt, too many things click.
So, assuming the above is true, how spineless is it to leave without warning? To have a friend leave the lame ass message?
If you want to leave, just be honest and say something. Even if it's because you can't stand the people or how they do things. You don't have to be tactless; say something courteous and polite.
Don't be a spineless weasel.
But it is how you leave the guild that is really telling.
Of course, for many, it is uncomfortable. There may be people in the guild that you connected to but outside of that it is no longer fun or possible to stay with the rest of the members.
I've left some guilds in a really bad way and others I have left in a quiet manner-in tells- to try to reduced the drama. I may not have been entirely honest at times, but I tried to not string people along.
Unlike some others.
This morning, one of the officers gets an in game mail that someone in the guild was hacked. The author of the letter was an RL friend of hacked person. The hacked person was an officer.
So, we thought it was strange that the hacked person didn't wipe our bank. And, server transfer two level 80s. Ok, it's happened before, but a hacker would be nuts to leave a guild bank alone.
As we are in officer vent discussing what happened, I search the Armory to find the characters. Turns out, they joined a guild of an ex member, and look! He's an officer in that guild now. He changed the name of his main, but left his alt intact.
What a coincidence.
To be hacked, join a guild filled with names I know, and be an officer of that guild is just amazing!
I'm bitter. As much as I want to give this person the benefit of the doubt, too many things click.
So, assuming the above is true, how spineless is it to leave without warning? To have a friend leave the lame ass message?
If you want to leave, just be honest and say something. Even if it's because you can't stand the people or how they do things. You don't have to be tactless; say something courteous and polite.
Don't be a spineless weasel.
Wednesday, September 2
So many hard modes
Last night was a great night for our 10 man hardmode work. We are almost done with them and the end is within our grasp for the proto-drake.
I Choose You, Steelbreaker
I honestly expected that one to go a lot worse. Big Kudos to Anti for setting it up and explaining it so well. Basically, we had Brundir and Steelbreaker tanked very close together. This way when the overload hits, the bulk of the raid moves to the other side of Steelbreaker to avoid it. How well that went, I couldn't really tell but people didn't die so I assume it was OK.
The reason why I couldn't tell is because I was one of the Static charge people. Myself and two others were at a longer range from Steelbreaker to soak the charges. We were supposed to be a rather evenly spread, but because of luck on positioning, Steelbreaker was too close to the wall and I couldn't get a good spot. Despite it not going exactly as planned, it was a clean execution and finished him off before the second tank exploded (though he still wanted to give us hugs and take us all down with him before loot went out! Bad pally.)
Between static charges, the usual aoe damage and the fact that Steelbreaker hits like a truck, all the healers were busting their arses. Amazing job everyone!
Crazy Cat Lady
Not a hard mode per se, but doing the achievement for the Glory meta was a bit rough. The tanks had a lot on their hands with the Sentries, and the dps did a great job keeping themselves in check as to not over do it. Overall, this is one fight where if one thing goes wrong, it has the potential to spiral down to a wipe.
As with our 25 mans, we try to use a shaman totem for the pull. Our DKs did a great job pulling off additional mobs out of the group, and the healers busted out the can of whup ass to keep everyone alive.
Lose your Illusion
This one wasn't new to most of us last night, but we had some folks who went away for Blizzcon, so there was some catching up to do. Once again, I was in the arena group. And, once again, somehow we lose some steam toward the end and one of the tanks died. As I am scrambling to catch up on the health bars, I battlerezed one of the dps while we had 20 seconds to spare before enrage. Whew!
The only real tough part about the hard mode is if someone is either frost bolted or caught in the blizzard when the skittles come. That, and our melee are always at risk of the chain lightning. And some day, some freaking day, I would like to see the Don't Stand in the Lightning achievement.
Knock, Knock, Knock on Wood
Ok, I may bitch about some other bosses but Freya was downright exasperating. We hadn't even tried the other versions of this hard mode; we jumped right in with three elders up.
As far as difficulty, I would say that the Sunbeam things are the easiest to deal with. Affected player just moves out of the way. Not only are they pretty easy to see, but DBM gives you a warning to move. Other things hit harder, but that is to be expected.
Next in difficulty would be the Iron Roots. Most of our players don't have to move around all that much except for our life tree people and the tanks occasionally. Worst case senario is someone who has roots and is stuck in a clump of people when they have Nature's Fury. Beyond that, some extra healing on the rooted person and some dps.
Lastly, Ground Tremor. This one is rough. Through bad luck on one attempt, we had ground tremor happen right as people were exploding the small flowers. Oh yes, they died quick. There was just too much damage happening at once to even save them. As a druid, I didn't have too much issue with the tremor. I only got caught once, and believe me, that was a scary few seconds.
As a healer, this is the hardest encounter I have faced yet. Relatively high situational awareness and careful watch of all on the raid is needed. I used my Idol of Awakening and the mana restore trinket from ToC. Even then, I had to use a mana pot and innervate.
Most of my mana issues sprang from Regrowth. I used this much more liberally than I have in the past. In addition, I also spammed WG+Nourish combo. Basically, I used every trick I had in the book.
Because the tank actually takes a fair bit of damage on hard mode, tank healers have their hands full, so raid healing is absolutely essential. At anytime, someone could get a ground tremor plus Freya's other abilities nearly back to back and if they aren't reasonably topped off, its over.
Next week is Mim, General and Yogg as we extended the raid lock out. GO GO GO
I Choose You, Steelbreaker
I honestly expected that one to go a lot worse. Big Kudos to Anti for setting it up and explaining it so well. Basically, we had Brundir and Steelbreaker tanked very close together. This way when the overload hits, the bulk of the raid moves to the other side of Steelbreaker to avoid it. How well that went, I couldn't really tell but people didn't die so I assume it was OK.
The reason why I couldn't tell is because I was one of the Static charge people. Myself and two others were at a longer range from Steelbreaker to soak the charges. We were supposed to be a rather evenly spread, but because of luck on positioning, Steelbreaker was too close to the wall and I couldn't get a good spot. Despite it not going exactly as planned, it was a clean execution and finished him off before the second tank exploded (though he still wanted to give us hugs and take us all down with him before loot went out! Bad pally.)
Between static charges, the usual aoe damage and the fact that Steelbreaker hits like a truck, all the healers were busting their arses. Amazing job everyone!
Crazy Cat Lady
Not a hard mode per se, but doing the achievement for the Glory meta was a bit rough. The tanks had a lot on their hands with the Sentries, and the dps did a great job keeping themselves in check as to not over do it. Overall, this is one fight where if one thing goes wrong, it has the potential to spiral down to a wipe.
As with our 25 mans, we try to use a shaman totem for the pull. Our DKs did a great job pulling off additional mobs out of the group, and the healers busted out the can of whup ass to keep everyone alive.
Lose your Illusion
This one wasn't new to most of us last night, but we had some folks who went away for Blizzcon, so there was some catching up to do. Once again, I was in the arena group. And, once again, somehow we lose some steam toward the end and one of the tanks died. As I am scrambling to catch up on the health bars, I battlerezed one of the dps while we had 20 seconds to spare before enrage. Whew!
The only real tough part about the hard mode is if someone is either frost bolted or caught in the blizzard when the skittles come. That, and our melee are always at risk of the chain lightning. And some day, some freaking day, I would like to see the Don't Stand in the Lightning achievement.
Knock, Knock, Knock on Wood
Ok, I may bitch about some other bosses but Freya was downright exasperating. We hadn't even tried the other versions of this hard mode; we jumped right in with three elders up.
As far as difficulty, I would say that the Sunbeam things are the easiest to deal with. Affected player just moves out of the way. Not only are they pretty easy to see, but DBM gives you a warning to move. Other things hit harder, but that is to be expected.
Next in difficulty would be the Iron Roots. Most of our players don't have to move around all that much except for our life tree people and the tanks occasionally. Worst case senario is someone who has roots and is stuck in a clump of people when they have Nature's Fury. Beyond that, some extra healing on the rooted person and some dps.
Lastly, Ground Tremor. This one is rough. Through bad luck on one attempt, we had ground tremor happen right as people were exploding the small flowers. Oh yes, they died quick. There was just too much damage happening at once to even save them. As a druid, I didn't have too much issue with the tremor. I only got caught once, and believe me, that was a scary few seconds.
As a healer, this is the hardest encounter I have faced yet. Relatively high situational awareness and careful watch of all on the raid is needed. I used my Idol of Awakening and the mana restore trinket from ToC. Even then, I had to use a mana pot and innervate.
Most of my mana issues sprang from Regrowth. I used this much more liberally than I have in the past. In addition, I also spammed WG+Nourish combo. Basically, I used every trick I had in the book.
Because the tank actually takes a fair bit of damage on hard mode, tank healers have their hands full, so raid healing is absolutely essential. At anytime, someone could get a ground tremor plus Freya's other abilities nearly back to back and if they aren't reasonably topped off, its over.
Next week is Mim, General and Yogg as we extended the raid lock out. GO GO GO
Tuesday, September 1
Get off me!
So much hate for the Faction Champion fight. So much hate on so many levels.
This has certainly become the love it or hate it fight. Those who love it enjoy the change of pace or the pvp flavor of the fight. They scoff at those who would rather have a scripted and controlled event. Those who hate it have their reasons, too, like when the melee gangs up on someone and they get owned.
Slowly but surely we are getting the fight under control. We have our more pvp minded leaders tackle the job of breaking down the assignments. People are getting past the omg phase and actually looking at the fight for its components, not the whole.
Additionally, having a healer get killed three times in a row helps, as well. Huh? you may ask. Well, on our win, I got tackled by a couple melee and was finished off by I think either the Shadow Priest or the Hunter (I can't be sure). I got battle rezed. As I was frantically trying to top myself back off, I got nailed again. Again, battle rezed. As I am racing away from the group, I died a third time. Since I was the last battle rez available, well, I took the time to watch the game play.
Ya, I failed big time. I am not a noob to pvp really. I just stopped doing battlegrounds awhile ago. From nerd rage spewing in bg chat, to zerg fests leaving nodes undefended with afkers, just dropping in to get some honor lost it's charm. Arenas didn't last long for me either.
But last night, I used Barkskin constantly as well as Entangling roots, regular roots, Cyclone, Hibernate on the hunter pet, cure poisons and decurse, on top of healing my butt off. Oh, let's not forget bear form or cat sprint. Looking at the list, no wonder I was a target. This went beyond "Kill the one in the dress!" to "Kill the damn druid." at all costs.
I envy the other druid healer. He stays in tree form, doesn't cc anything, and doesn't die. I'm sure tree form helps since it increases his armor. But for me, I can't sit back and just heal. Watching the rogue chase down a clothie has me going for the root. After the CC's are used up on the targets, I click the Cyclone. Someone yells to get a pet off them, I'm there scrambling to help. I'm sure my life would be easier if I just healed.
Do I hate the fight? No. I don't love it either. I'm actually ambivalent. I'd rather it not be tedious. Many of our raiders hate it so much that after a wipe, it's like pulling teeth to get them to reform and try it again.
It will get better. There are only so many combos of the targets, and like arenas, a general formula will cement for people and we can go to just execution.
This has certainly become the love it or hate it fight. Those who love it enjoy the change of pace or the pvp flavor of the fight. They scoff at those who would rather have a scripted and controlled event. Those who hate it have their reasons, too, like when the melee gangs up on someone and they get owned.
Slowly but surely we are getting the fight under control. We have our more pvp minded leaders tackle the job of breaking down the assignments. People are getting past the omg phase and actually looking at the fight for its components, not the whole.
Additionally, having a healer get killed three times in a row helps, as well. Huh? you may ask. Well, on our win, I got tackled by a couple melee and was finished off by I think either the Shadow Priest or the Hunter (I can't be sure). I got battle rezed. As I was frantically trying to top myself back off, I got nailed again. Again, battle rezed. As I am racing away from the group, I died a third time. Since I was the last battle rez available, well, I took the time to watch the game play.
Ya, I failed big time. I am not a noob to pvp really. I just stopped doing battlegrounds awhile ago. From nerd rage spewing in bg chat, to zerg fests leaving nodes undefended with afkers, just dropping in to get some honor lost it's charm. Arenas didn't last long for me either.
But last night, I used Barkskin constantly as well as Entangling roots, regular roots, Cyclone, Hibernate on the hunter pet, cure poisons and decurse, on top of healing my butt off. Oh, let's not forget bear form or cat sprint. Looking at the list, no wonder I was a target. This went beyond "Kill the one in the dress!" to "Kill the damn druid." at all costs.
I envy the other druid healer. He stays in tree form, doesn't cc anything, and doesn't die. I'm sure tree form helps since it increases his armor. But for me, I can't sit back and just heal. Watching the rogue chase down a clothie has me going for the root. After the CC's are used up on the targets, I click the Cyclone. Someone yells to get a pet off them, I'm there scrambling to help. I'm sure my life would be easier if I just healed.
Do I hate the fight? No. I don't love it either. I'm actually ambivalent. I'd rather it not be tedious. Many of our raiders hate it so much that after a wipe, it's like pulling teeth to get them to reform and try it again.
It will get better. There are only so many combos of the targets, and like arenas, a general formula will cement for people and we can go to just execution.
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