Friday, April 8, 2011

4.1 Call to Arms is Up in Arms...and I don't CARE

Really, PuGs in general Suck. There are asshole Tanks, Asshole Healers and asshole DPS. This whole Call to Arms deal was meant to get more tanks playing. Actually, I see alot of tanks out there. The good ones belong to guilds. Why? Because they get support, mentorship and a crew to run with on a regular basis that actually works as a team. Call to Arms is at it's core a mercenary plea so those solo non guilded folk have something to work for near the end game. It's not the lack of tanks, it's the lack of tanks wanting to deal with PuGers that don't want to work as a team and the costs of repairs vs rewards when they experience repeated wipes.

SOLUTION:
Get into a friendly low pressure guild that will help you learn your roles one way or another and support the class you have. If you are trying to ready yourself for raids, shop around carefully for a guild that will actually support your goals as you support theirs. Stop being the loner, it doesn't work that way. In the end, the more you whine about oooh I can't get into heroics because no one wants to tank...sucks to be you. You might want to look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself why you can't get into a guild that will support you.


On the same token, Raiding guilds, I see so many of you claiming your Raid teams are falling apart, yet you won't lift a finger to raise new blood into your ranks. If they aren't the elite, you don't care for them or about them. Got it, there are bad players out there, put them on the B and C squads. Train them up. Don't let them get sloppy habits. Recruit new blood in that aren't Raid ready and train them. Doing so is an investment of time, but worth it in the end. So elitist raiding guilds, you are just as guilty for your own downfall.

And now I can here the screams of indignation....

Mhorgrim! Your an asshole! You might be right, but you see, most of what I am seeing is people who won't take responsibility for their own stupidity and try to correct it. This may mean raising a new toon on a different server after finding a guild out there that actually meets your needs. Don't want to loose your hard worked toon? Ok, create a low lv alt and scout out guilds and then bring your badass toon over via paid tranfer. Maybe you need to look at a guild you can grow with that may not have the uber achievements but have supportive folks that have like minds for the future. But Mhorgrim, I want to be on a world first team....dude if that's all your life is, you got no life. End content is just that...the end. Once you've done it there isn't anything left. If it is the only thing that floats your boat, find a kick ass guild, apply to them and show them you are worthy of being on a raid team like that. Personally I find that way too much a hassle, I prefer to go on a drunken streak of mayhem and at least have fun in the game. 

To the nay-sayers of the Call to Arms....DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! STOP WHINING! Be responsible. Be respectful to one another regardless of your classes and work as teams. If you can't or won't do this, you deserve what you get from this mess. Personally, I am a tank by trade, but I don't pug. I don't have to. I have a small but friendly guild that actually supports me and that I am growing WITH instead of hopping onto the coat tails. I get the instances I want when I want. I have a solid team of players that assist me and mentor technique as well. If your guild doesn't do that, go find another. Stop being a sycophant to guilds that demand but won't give aside from the opportunity to go on their raids their way. I don't play that way cuz I'm nobodies bitch. I still enjoy the game.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Music - Feelin the drums of Battle

Music, it sets the mood, it is in fact it's own language, it gets us pumped...ON TO WAR!!!! I love hearing music when I play WoW. But I have different types of music that I listen to depending upon what mood I am in and what style of play I'm working on. Take for instance PvP, I love pumped up music with driving beats and filled with rage or evil. Why? It makes me pumped up ready to go kill pixels. Some of my favorites for pvp are Rob Zombie (especially Devil's Rejects), Nickelback, Metallica from the 80s and early 90's, AC/DC and ManO'War. Some of it is because of Lyrics, some of it's because of driving sound.
When Raiding, no music. Seriously, I have to concentrate on my job as a tank or healer, music gets in the way of communication when I'm trying to stay alive and hit the rotations just right. Standard 5 mans though, I love to listen to classic rock from the 60s-early 70's and some good old fashioned Johnny Cash. I do the same for when I'm farming by the way though I add in alot of Dick Dale's guitar work, keeps me awake while doing tedious work. . RP, I haven't done much RP in a hot minute but when I do, I really enjoy Eastern European folk music, Middle Eastern Folk music and select instrumentals. Questing really depends upon where I'm at. See, the music score to Northrend was so cool, that when I am questing there, I keep it on the WoW loop. Other places, depends upon the mood that strikes me.

So, what music do you listen to while playing WoW and are there times when mood changes the types of music you enjoy while playing? Drop a line, let me hear what ya got to say! Happy hunting out there!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Open World PvP Where has it gone?

One thing I don’t often see on pvp servers is a lot of open world pvp. Yes there are BG’s always going on, but it seems like there has been a lack of open world pvp on Azeroth. I know everyone is out for the achievements and therefore most of their time is spent in the Battle Grounds. I do have a few alts on pvp servers but I wonder where all the action is beyond the battle ground? I remember the days a couple of years ago when City Hubs were littered with skeletons and even the smaller quest hubs were as well. One of my fondest pvp memories happened about 3 years ago when I chanced upon a full scale invasion into Darnassus. There had to be a good 60 Horde that bum rushed The Darnassus entrance area and man was it wicked! Initially they made huge gains but then all of a sudden the Alliance fought back with a vengeance. It was a back and forth battle for a good 30 minutes with neither side really making headway other than good old fashioned fighting. Another instance back in mid 07 happened when I belonged to an RP PvP guild that did a full scale invasion of the Barrens with the objective of taking over completely the Crossroads.  Again, another stalemate but an epic battle. All levels were welcomed into the fray as long as they were willing to fight. In the end, the Horde tracked us down back into Ashenvale and ambushed us in murderous fashion. The whole invasion got stymied right then and there.
Thing is, I wonder what happened to such huge undertakings? Are there any guilds out there that still practice war in all it’s pvp glory? Or has Azeroth in General become much like our world today, mostly politically correct with the occasional brush fire?
Something I enjoyed about Age of Conan is battles large and small would irrupt all over the place. Cities were avoided because too many guards that you couldn’t defeat ( a total fail on FunCom by the way). But I remember when WoW used to see some pretty hefty pvp action without the battle grounds.  Has WoW gone over simply to PVE orientated action only? I hear rumors that there will be guild XP for pvp kills in the 4.1 patch, is this a truth or only wishful thinking?
For the record, war is a messy business.  In the real world it’s something that has lasting effects even on the survivors. I won’t go into my total feelings here, but I do understand the devastation real war causes. In a game though, it surprises me that there aren’t more large scale fights amongst the pvp crowd.

Day 17 ~ Your Favorite Spot 20 Days of Blogging

Azeroth, plenty of places to explore. Some interesting, some wicked, some downright desolate, and others...well damned beautiful. It's hard pinpointing a spot that I happen to love the most especially post Cata. You see, there are so many places I haven't seen yet or changes that are very important. Further more, Places where I couldn't fly before I now can so I find even more fun things and gorgeous views to look at.
Now back during Wrath, I really loved Dalaran. It was such a huge and Bustling City. People coming and going left and right. It's turning into a ghost town akin to Silvermoon City a this point which is so very sad, at least on my server Tanaris.

I still have a special love for the high cliffs and long entrance of the Howling Fjord into the Valgarde area in Northrend. There is just something spectacular and awe inspiring as you go through that mini fjord. The music score is incredible as well. So, combine the music score with the area and yup that's my favorite! Not only this but both in PVE and PVP this is a blast. Ever had a PvP fight there? Imagine on top of the Vrykul threat, you also have Horde and Alliance forces fighting each other as well. It's pretty intense. Anyways, just my thoughts for the moment.

As to what I've been doing over the weekend since I didn't post then. Since Friday I had been working on my PvP feral Druid Damios all the way into Sunday. Battle Ground after Battle Ground. Some wins, others epic fails, some total Stale mates but a blast to fight. I had gotten pretty handy with my Druid's stealth and hunting capabilities. I had been working pretty feverishly on his enchanting as well to bolster his fighting prowess. By far Arathi had been my favorite Battle ground as it takes some thinking and maneuvering. Then Sunday happened. See I had been holding off on leveling my PvE Tank Mhorgrim for almost a week as I thought my wife wanted to catch her Healing Shaman up to me. Well, she got to change from healer to DPS on her Druid and participated in some Cata dungeons. This hooked her and so now it's somewhat of a race for me to saddle up Mhorgrim and hot foot it in leveling him and getting him warmed up in some other instances to be competitive. Damios will always be there lurking in the shadows awaiting his prey so after some hard fought battles, he gets a break for now.

Mhorgrim level 72 last night and have cleared through my Saronite Blacksmithing so I'm pretty happy about that. Hopefully I will see lv 73 tonight or tomorrow night at the latest. My goal is to see him hit 75 by this weekend so he can wear alot of his newly crafted Saronite Gear. Yes, I'm pretty proud of this work I've done in Crafting. I know it sounds silly but really for me it's not just the achievement of getting my skill levels up. See, in the past I never could stick with professions development. It got too frustrating to pour all that money down the drain only to have substandard gear for my efforts. Well, least the gear I've made this time has been paying for itself. I like unlocking new skills anyhow.

Ok, that's my fast and furious updates for now. Catch ya all later.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Day #16 ~ Things you miss Post Cata - 20 Days of Blogging

First,
Sorry I was not posting over the weekends. I doubt you will really see me post then as that is MY PLAY TIME hee hee hee. I have a lot of things I want to post about but reminded myself that I took on the 20 Days and am coninueing to press forward even if I am condensing the time space continuum to do it...we sort of anyhow.

So here we are working on Day 16, the things I miss Post Cata. Honestly folks I am not sure I miss anything per se. See, I rerolled completely and the best part about Cata was the 1 - 60 storyline for most of the races involved. I love the fact I can fly ANYWHERE, yes it is awesome. Pre Cata I wasn't very interested in Raids so I really didn't miss much there. I do have one thing I miss though over all. It will sound strange as hell, but see it ties into my world Azeroth viewpoint. I miss having to rely on Guilds and on servers to get your instances done. MHORGRIM WTF OVER??? Seriously dude? We getz da fast gearz now you idiot! Your right, you do. But I remember when even a low level blue was awesome to have for quite awhile and you felt you earned it. I also remember the days that you minded your manners a bit more since you got a bad reputation as a ninja looter or Ass Hat for your attitudes. See I miss the sense of community which has often been lost when we do cross server PuGs. I mean people don't have to be decent, they'll never see you again so who cares? Plus now getting all Rare Gear or better is a friggen breeze for leveling so again, who cares?

It is only my most arrogant opinion that the LFD tool is actually counter productive towards server wide community. When we loose the sense of community we don't communicate or interact. To be honest, when I'm not running with guilds but doing PuGs, I feel like its me and a bunch of ill behaved minions that are artificially created with preset responses like in a solo game. Also, what ever happened to interesting Trade Chat beyond WTS [insert item] or WoW Gold Sellers. With the exception of Stormwind or Ogrimmar, many of the Hub Cities are barren as well since you really don't need them anymore. Ok, so from the social aspect, things aren't quite what they used to be. People aren't liable for thier actions because unless you are a serious Raider, you don't really have to interact per se. Guilds are great as well, but unless your guild has a social aspect to it where you are actually chattin for wait for it *ZOMG* the sake of knowing one another beyond Raid Commands.

I'm not bustin on Blizz for this, but I think this is something that has to do with some of the jaded view points out there. Now friends, understand I belong to a social guild that wants to raid casually. This suits me. I chose this group because they were in fact real life friends. So that's ok for me. But I just notice subtle changes in attitudes from those around, ergo my one thing I miss from Pre Cata days, you actually had to interact back then.

Anyone else experience the same results from their servers as well? I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.
And with that, I bid you all success in every endeavor.

Oh, By the way, most of the weekend I was working on my pvp feral kitty Damios, but have picked up my shield again with Mhorgrim for more leveling fun now that the wife is focusing on her Boomkin Druid again. I'll have more on that tomorrow. Take care all!!!!