The Adaptive Gamer....Challenges which can be over come

So I ran across this yesterday concerning an Adaptive Player. The player was really trying to get across that it is possible for someone with physical or mental handicaps to still play and enjoy WoW up to and including Raiding. The responses over all were pretty positive with only the occasional troll out there. I was actually pretty inpressed by the tenacity of the player and applaud his efforts to still enjoy the game. I think the diea here was to help other disabled players see that there are methods to still enjoy the game. There are a few posters that were less than cordial but that is their right to post, so I ignored them for the most part.

I have had first hand experience with working in a PUG with someone visually impaired. He put raid icons over our heads which we werent used to and kinda screwed with my kill order. After asking him why, he explained it helped him see the tank and healer to easier to assist in attacks due to his visual impairment. Well I gotta say that I support fully to assist those with disabilities who still are motivated enough to play the game and overcome some problematic issues when dealing with the physical aspects of repetitive motions and manual dextuerly required for doing Hotkey hits etc. His idea also incudes creating a website where people can go and share techniques in overcoming these challenges. Should this website go up, even if you are not an Adaptive player, just someone who enjoys the game and raids, it might expose you to understanding those who play WoW with disabilities. Well Walaman good luck to you and I hope your idea takes off!

Questline Fashion...Serious Makeover needed

So I dropped by Keredria's blog today to find this on alternate ways to level. Obviously not necessarily to everyone's taste and most likely a very very long grind. But a few thoughts rose up in my peaked lil mind. Is it possible to have quests designed specific for classes and or professions that reward particular styles of play? Well, to tell the truth, there are some non combative quests out there currently though they can be engaged with combat while doing this. Since I've been out in Northrend,  I noticed a few quests don't require combat at all per se. The thing is, with the exception of advancing a story theme line, they don't highlight character skill sets or a profession base skill set.

Periodically, there should be quests pertaining to both profession and specifically to class/skill tree sets. Would it be difficult? possibly but still doable. Kill 10 ratz still applies mostly to a DPS mindset. But what about a questline that emphadsizes tank skills in holding aggro? Or a Healer questline maintaining an NPC getting through from point A to point B utilizing the healer skills? Rogues specifically to go in stealth, avoid detection and steal specific items or scout specific areas. These I came up with just rambling as a wrote, the ideas are there. My question is, can they be implemented through code? I mean, the complexity can't be nearly as hard as phased questlines in WoW so why not class specific?

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.