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!

Sexism and harrassment - MMO Style

Guys want chicks to play WoW with them. Guys love this, it means a cute ass is in front of them and a virtual babe which is real because hey...girl is behind the keyboard. This is SO HOT! and hey...maybe if I play my virtual nerd cards right, I can get me some bowchicawowow!!!! At least maybe in game. sort of. And that's where the sexism begins. This tends to be the most blatant form. But even the mmo industry game design supports this. Females always look better in robes than males, ergo female toons tend to be casters of one sort or another. Funnel mechanism right there folks. Armor of any sort that looks like lingerie rather than something that keeps a toon alive or would seem extremely uncomfortable ( a plate thong.... is that possible?). Very well endowed female toons. Even when slide bars are available...it aint that much difference. Just hose creation points makes it the nerd guy's dream. But folks that's only the beginning and it concerns me. I mean, I do allow my kids to play the game. What message does that send them? For certain when my daughter was under 18 I would have made her throw out anything that would be overtly revealing such as mini skirts/midriff tops etc. I'm old fashioned that way. Should I think any different in a game that might allow such conduct to go on?

You are asking yourself...where did this all come from? Well, today I was surfing through allot of Blogs. The Greedy Goblin got me started. At first I was agreeing with the fact that honestly if you are carrying your significant other in game especially for raids, you are pretty much wrong. But then the tone became rater sexist to the point of...why would I date a girl if she isn't skilled like me? My personal feelings on this particular subject will have to wait for another time. I'll leave you the reader to make your own decision on what you feel about Devlon's ideas. Suffice to say, it got me thinking about how male and female interaction occurs in game.

Then I came across this post from In Character an RP focused Blog. What struck me the worst was the commentary about rape, flirtations, sexual advances or gurls suxz attitudes. My reply in that blog had more to do with the customer service from the GM's but my personal thoughts went back to the shitty make attitudes that were thrown about. Look, I'm an older guy. I don't tolerate disrespect of women. My wife plays and I'll get down right ornery with people who are rude to her based upon her being a woman, which does still happen. Oh, I know she can give as much as she takes, but the caveman in me still does the whole protective attitude even if it's in a virtual universe.

But really, has the Internet created monsters out of little boys? A real man doesn't need to portray such shitty attitudes, or at least I wouldn't think it's necessary. I'm no knight in shining armor, nor am I a prude in the least. But outrageous conduct is a sorry ass sham of being so anonymous that no one has to worry. If it's typed in, I wonder what the real person is like? Is this what they harbor deep inside? To hurt and abuse the opposite gender? Or make a hostile environment towards those of other racial background? Hey shit talkin is ok. Between consenting folks the whole ERP thing is ok if that 's what gets them hot as long as its done in a non public manner. What concerns me is a new social dynamic of mistreatment to the point of dehumanization. This bothers me.

So, in the community abroad I pose a set of questions to each of you.

1. Is sexual harassment an issue that needs to be addressed?

2. Should developers seriously cater to a much more conservative view of the female needs such as less revealing clothing or less objectified female toon looks?

3. Should the GM's of a given mmo have a priority list for sexual harassment allegations with a means of proof and a means of dealing with such crass behavior?

4. Overall, what are your opinions of allowing females to feel welcome in the nerd's world of video game mmo mayhem and murder?

I am honestly interested in reader opinion and would like to see a healthy discussion ensue.