Of all the Crazy Half witted, Hair Brained Ideas.....

OR....Where Mhorgrim gets to find out what pvp is like as a tank......

 Over the last week I've been working on my tank, Mhorgrim. I hit 78 yesterday and donned my Savage Saronite set, only to realize it was meant for PvP. But wait, a crazy hair brained, idiot idea hit me like a ton of griffon droppings; lets try to go onto the BG's as a tank spec! I had never done this before and I figured the armor set is perfect for it even if I have crap for weapons. Besides, I reasoned, I need honor points for BOA Gear and stuff. So, I went into a couple of randoms before bed. Arathi called me to service like a sweet siren to a sailor. There I went thinking I had some decent things to offer....BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH!!!!!! Not so much. Even at 78 I was struggling. But the good thing was, I noticed on our Battle Group makeup, the priests really did keep me alive. The fighting was intense. the first battle was a non stop fight up around the Lumber Mill. My Horde opponents as noble as they were and as hard hitting with their uber pvp earned gear could only stalemate us up on that lonely ridge. In the meantime our other units were speeding around taking ground then loosing it. I am learning there are uses for a tank in BGs but so far I am still figuring out how to get more killing blows. I am seeing that Horde wanted me dead first every round. Good thing my Healers were on point. One final fight at the Lumbermill lasted close to 1 minute of trading blows between an arms spec warrior and myself, both sides had a healer. It was an epic duel though and I had a blast as we went back and forth on each other. I never popped so many cool downs in any instance I had ever been in so fast. It was a mad minute of jumping, stunning, throwing weapons, sundering armor, maneuvering around etc. Finally the mighty Tauren warrior fell. I am guessing it had to do with either mana on the other healer or a mistimed heal. I can't be sure which at this point, as I was as exhausted mentally as a real warrior would be physically. By that time reinforcements had arrived and the Horde healer decided best to retreat back to his farm. We won that battle with hard fighting, controlling at least 4 nodes at once during the fight. The Horde came back swinging hard though and they were no slouches. In the end I believe it was 1600 to 1400 in resources held.

The second battle, also epic in nature was lost to us. Soundly beaten by 1600 - 1200. Not a happy ending. I noticed how critical it is to have more than one healer in your crew. Many times I think we would have done allot better had we just a few extra heals. The Alliance at this level in our Battle Group have figured out road fights are stupid so avoid them. This is a good thing.

In all, Mhorgrim didn't do well killing people but he did a helluva job making sure his crew was protected as long as possible. This often made the difference in holding or keeping an area secure. So, there is my epic fun.

But why write about it? I mean, I did what I did and though it wasn't exactly a faceroll to the other side, it was still fun. Oh Yeah! IT WAS FUN! See I change the pace up. I switch between things so nothing gets stale. If you find yourself feeling that the game is stale, try something new. Get outside your comfort zone of what you do well and work on the things you don't do well. You may not ever get perfect at everything but it will without a doubt be an interesting journey. So tonight I might do more pvp till I hit 80 before I roll out to level again. I get the best of all worlds. Have a great day in Azeroth everyone!

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.