Back when we first started raiding, we made a decision to never raid on Tuesday nights - there was always a risk of a bad maintenance day. Somewhere along the line (when Ulduar was coming out) we got away from this rule and added Tuesday to our Sat/Mon lineup.
Last night we got bit.
Our battlegroup was down for emergency extended maintenance for about 3 or 4 hours. Go us. A lot of us messed around with alts on another server, but at the end we had to cancel our raid in favor of another night. Who knew it'd be this big a challenge to reschedule.
It seems our raiders really do have lives after all, since we can't get a good consensus on when the best night to raid would be. People have scheduled work/Significant Others/family, etc around these days. It's pretty unfair of us to expect them to change at the last minute, especially when we try and run a loose ship anyway.
So now we're going in on Friday (canceling our 10 mans) since it seems to work best for those involved. With any luck we'll have enough of our core raiders on to at least clear the early content, and maybe we'll be able to try out some new recruits at the same time. Who knows - this might just work out for the best in the long run.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
On summertime swings
Last night was another fine example of the summertime swing we see in WoW. The game certainly does have it's ebb and flow of high and low times - and summer is definately a mix of both. More kids are out of school, but summer vacations and jobs for the college kids take over. It's nice out, and physical fitness drives us outdoors (not a bad thing). Families change, priorities shift, and then....you get the dumbs.
A good break
My best friend retired from raiding this week. It's not uncommon, as we've both taken our breaks over the years, and I'm glad he's gotten better at realizing when he needs a break. Guy has a new baby in his life, a wife who's far from home (I think she's imported from a small third world country - some call it Georgia), and he's looking at deployment to a place where they shoot at you for real. So Mini if you're reading this - I don't think you're flaky bud. Just realize that I'm going to teach your boy to light his farts before you get home - I don't care that he's not even a year old yet.
The regular breaks
Another of our top DPSers has gone for the summer. It's nothing new, happens every year in fact, but it still sucks to have this gaping hole in our roster. On larger servers this wouldn't be an issue, but on a small server it's sometimes tougher to fill that gap. Of course we wouldn't be in the position we're in now if we were on a larger server - so it's a mixed blessing.
Another of our top DPS is leaving for a month. A starting healer is out for three weeks. This list continues, but these are regularly expected breaks from the game. The ones I can't stand are...
The dumbs
These are the jokers who either ragequit, or who milk all the gear they can and then log on one day to say they're leaving for Hello Kitty or something. From a personal standpoint, it's their time, if they aren't having fun then they should move on. It's the fact that they don't seem to respect that there are 9/24 other people who are left holding the bag, and that there are real people who they play with.
Finally - the casuals
There's a lot of discussion on the web these days about what a 'casual' really is. As much as some of his posts are off base, Gevolon (Greedy Goblin) makes a good post here about the real difference. Our guild has lot's of casual players. OK, a dozen or so. These are players that could step into our 25s (and many have been key players for a while) and do quite well, yet choose to not raid - or only do 10s.
I think these guys are great. They certainly provide a more social aspect to our guild, and provide a wider base from which to draw for PvP, 5 mans, PuG raids, etc. I know many of the core progression raid team is only online to raid and occasionally farm up some cash or mats for consumables. This means that the 10 or so who play all the time need a family to hang out with - and these guys are it. Plus they've been willing to fill in a 25 slot in a pinch.
To be clear, I have no room for dumb people in our raids, and being dumb does not a casual make. I'll accept accidents or learning curves. Last night a recruit got caught in a tentacle on Yogg. Now he'd been with us for a whopping two raids, and I think we'd seen Phase 2 clean maybe 3 times. He got caught, and didn't realize he could keep casting - so he died. Guess what though - he didn't make that mistake again, and that is perfectly fine. It's when you see the same mistakes over and over from the same person that drives me crazy.
Conclusion
We'll get through this phase like we do every year. I really want the server first Yogg and Algalon kills though...and my mace...
A good break
My best friend retired from raiding this week. It's not uncommon, as we've both taken our breaks over the years, and I'm glad he's gotten better at realizing when he needs a break. Guy has a new baby in his life, a wife who's far from home (I think she's imported from a small third world country - some call it Georgia), and he's looking at deployment to a place where they shoot at you for real. So Mini if you're reading this - I don't think you're flaky bud. Just realize that I'm going to teach your boy to light his farts before you get home - I don't care that he's not even a year old yet.
The regular breaks
Another of our top DPSers has gone for the summer. It's nothing new, happens every year in fact, but it still sucks to have this gaping hole in our roster. On larger servers this wouldn't be an issue, but on a small server it's sometimes tougher to fill that gap. Of course we wouldn't be in the position we're in now if we were on a larger server - so it's a mixed blessing.
Another of our top DPS is leaving for a month. A starting healer is out for three weeks. This list continues, but these are regularly expected breaks from the game. The ones I can't stand are...
The dumbs
These are the jokers who either ragequit, or who milk all the gear they can and then log on one day to say they're leaving for Hello Kitty or something. From a personal standpoint, it's their time, if they aren't having fun then they should move on. It's the fact that they don't seem to respect that there are 9/24 other people who are left holding the bag, and that there are real people who they play with.
Finally - the casuals
There's a lot of discussion on the web these days about what a 'casual' really is. As much as some of his posts are off base, Gevolon (Greedy Goblin) makes a good post here about the real difference. Our guild has lot's of casual players. OK, a dozen or so. These are players that could step into our 25s (and many have been key players for a while) and do quite well, yet choose to not raid - or only do 10s.
I think these guys are great. They certainly provide a more social aspect to our guild, and provide a wider base from which to draw for PvP, 5 mans, PuG raids, etc. I know many of the core progression raid team is only online to raid and occasionally farm up some cash or mats for consumables. This means that the 10 or so who play all the time need a family to hang out with - and these guys are it. Plus they've been willing to fill in a 25 slot in a pinch.
To be clear, I have no room for dumb people in our raids, and being dumb does not a casual make. I'll accept accidents or learning curves. Last night a recruit got caught in a tentacle on Yogg. Now he'd been with us for a whopping two raids, and I think we'd seen Phase 2 clean maybe 3 times. He got caught, and didn't realize he could keep casting - so he died. Guess what though - he didn't make that mistake again, and that is perfectly fine. It's when you see the same mistakes over and over from the same person that drives me crazy.
Conclusion
We'll get through this phase like we do every year. I really want the server first Yogg and Algalon kills though...and my mace...
Monday, June 8, 2009
Arena fun
So this week my 3s team managed to eek out a 1450 rating (yeah, I know) with a rogue, boomkin, and me healing. We had been going with a full DPS crew, but as we've gotten higher I've started healing.
Originally I was using the 51/20 healing spec, giving me a little more survivability and access to Divine Sacrifice. After a bit I moved to a 19/52 build for the silence off Avenger's Shield, survivability, and a 20sec HoJ. I found the spec to be decent, but it's lacking a few things.
1) I don't have all the requisite PvP gear yet. I'm still running in PvE rings, helm, bracers, and cloak.
2) I miss Holy Shock.
3) I don't think Redoubt and Holy Shield work while casting.
4) I miss the 40yd judgement.
5) I have no clue what seal I should be running, or if it even matters. I usually run Wisdom or Justice - figuring mana never hurts, and if I get a stun on a lucky hit - then so much the better.
I thought about Sheathadin for the instant heals from AoW, but the healing in Arenas seems to be too spammy for that to be effective. The HoTs ticking from SoL would be nice though....
I will say that healing in Arenas is a far cry from running around with my Stunhearald screaming "BOF! BOF!" at my paladin healer. How he must have hated me...wait, I know how much he hated me. He told me on a match by match basis, and reminds me of it to this day.
Fortunately with SS and high crits on FoL (I was seeing 9k the other night) it's really not that bad, as long as they stay in range. I'm working on getting my BoP (err - HoP, but still) and Freedom's worked in faster. I think distract is OP - if taunt can't change my target, neither should distract.
Overall I like the pace of 3s right now (yes, I know 1450 isn't high - leave me alone) and I've found PvP to be a nice little change from PvE. Even if I am still healing.
Originally I was using the 51/20 healing spec, giving me a little more survivability and access to Divine Sacrifice. After a bit I moved to a 19/52 build for the silence off Avenger's Shield, survivability, and a 20sec HoJ. I found the spec to be decent, but it's lacking a few things.
1) I don't have all the requisite PvP gear yet. I'm still running in PvE rings, helm, bracers, and cloak.
2) I miss Holy Shock.
3) I don't think Redoubt and Holy Shield work while casting.
4) I miss the 40yd judgement.
5) I have no clue what seal I should be running, or if it even matters. I usually run Wisdom or Justice - figuring mana never hurts, and if I get a stun on a lucky hit - then so much the better.
I thought about Sheathadin for the instant heals from AoW, but the healing in Arenas seems to be too spammy for that to be effective. The HoTs ticking from SoL would be nice though....
I will say that healing in Arenas is a far cry from running around with my Stunhearald screaming "BOF! BOF!" at my paladin healer. How he must have hated me...wait, I know how much he hated me. He told me on a match by match basis, and reminds me of it to this day.
Fortunately with SS and high crits on FoL (I was seeing 9k the other night) it's really not that bad, as long as they stay in range. I'm working on getting my BoP (err - HoP, but still) and Freedom's worked in faster. I think distract is OP - if taunt can't change my target, neither should distract.
Overall I like the pace of 3s right now (yes, I know 1450 isn't high - leave me alone) and I've found PvP to be a nice little change from PvE. Even if I am still healing.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Lessons I've learned the hard way
Over my term in WoW I've filled the role of MT/Raid Lead, raid/MT Healer, and melee DPS. I dabbled a few times with ranged DPS, but I never quite got into it. From MC to Ulduar, with all the raids in between - there's a few lessons I've had to learn the hard way. So in no particular order - I give you WoW's lessons from the streets.
Don't outpace your healers.
Chain pulling is all well and good, but your healers are quick to let you know when you've overstepped your bounds. It may be a simple request for mana, or letting you dip a bit - or it can go so far as to warning the OT that you're about to die. Also, don't leave them behind by charging in at the mob. God (Chris Metzan) gave you a ranged pull or mis-direct for a reason. Use it.
LoS is serious business.
I will never forget (partially because the healer won't let me) the 3v3 Arena match where I learned this lesson so well. It was in the Nagrand Arena (I think - the one with the 4 pillars) and it was our pally/mage/war combo (I was the war) against two trinket/PoM mages and something else. I just remember charging at the mage, getting pillar humped, and hearing Toby cry 'NOOOOOOOO' as I ate two trinketed pyro-blasts and was insta-gibbed. Toby and Frog managed to pull that one off somehow - but I spent a lot of time looking at the floor.
Nobody really means it when they say stand in the fire, except of course when they really do.
During an attempt to teach SSC to a former guild, we were clearing out to Leo. I saw numerous raid members standing in the rain of fire - taking significant ammounts of damage. I piped up on vent - "Don't bother moving out of the fire - the healers need the practice". One hunter was ballsy enough to actually ask 'Really?' - he claims he was being asked by other raiders, I think he was just being dumb (<3 to you Chris). I let him have both barrels on vent. It was pretty funny.
Of course when a wipe is called, we really DO want you to stand in the fire. Yeah, it's confusing if you're three. Deal with it.
Pugs make you better.
Really. Think running heroics is too easy with your normal crew? Hop in LFG and heal/tank/dps the first thing that comes along. I guarantee you'll use more cooldowns than you have in a month, and you'll finally find a use for the poultrygizer.
Stealing this one from Tobias - like your job.
Dude told me today - if I've taught you nothing else, I hope I taught you that you have to love your job. Because nothing is sweeter than pulling off a near wipe and having the tanks let you know they felt it. You have to be humble of course - but you know what saved the day.
Triage counts.
Remember that quest on Theramore where you have to bandage the wounded soldiers before they die? That's raid healing - and knowing that someone is going to have to bite the big one on a given pull is just part of the game. It's ok to let someone die. Especially if they are Nickleback fans.
Finally - Have a DPSer somewhere.
Doesn't matter what server, class, or spec. Have a face melter in the shadows that you can decompress with. Nothing helps relieve the tension of a night of wipes like smashing faces in PvP/Arenas. Just don't take it too serious.
Don't outpace your healers.
Chain pulling is all well and good, but your healers are quick to let you know when you've overstepped your bounds. It may be a simple request for mana, or letting you dip a bit - or it can go so far as to warning the OT that you're about to die. Also, don't leave them behind by charging in at the mob. God (Chris Metzan) gave you a ranged pull or mis-direct for a reason. Use it.
LoS is serious business.
I will never forget (partially because the healer won't let me) the 3v3 Arena match where I learned this lesson so well. It was in the Nagrand Arena (I think - the one with the 4 pillars) and it was our pally/mage/war combo (I was the war) against two trinket/PoM mages and something else. I just remember charging at the mage, getting pillar humped, and hearing Toby cry 'NOOOOOOOO' as I ate two trinketed pyro-blasts and was insta-gibbed. Toby and Frog managed to pull that one off somehow - but I spent a lot of time looking at the floor.
Nobody really means it when they say stand in the fire, except of course when they really do.
During an attempt to teach SSC to a former guild, we were clearing out to Leo. I saw numerous raid members standing in the rain of fire - taking significant ammounts of damage. I piped up on vent - "Don't bother moving out of the fire - the healers need the practice". One hunter was ballsy enough to actually ask 'Really?' - he claims he was being asked by other raiders, I think he was just being dumb (<3 to you Chris). I let him have both barrels on vent. It was pretty funny.
Of course when a wipe is called, we really DO want you to stand in the fire. Yeah, it's confusing if you're three. Deal with it.
Pugs make you better.
Really. Think running heroics is too easy with your normal crew? Hop in LFG and heal/tank/dps the first thing that comes along. I guarantee you'll use more cooldowns than you have in a month, and you'll finally find a use for the poultrygizer.
Stealing this one from Tobias - like your job.
Dude told me today - if I've taught you nothing else, I hope I taught you that you have to love your job. Because nothing is sweeter than pulling off a near wipe and having the tanks let you know they felt it. You have to be humble of course - but you know what saved the day.
Triage counts.
Remember that quest on Theramore where you have to bandage the wounded soldiers before they die? That's raid healing - and knowing that someone is going to have to bite the big one on a given pull is just part of the game. It's ok to let someone die. Especially if they are Nickleback fans.
Finally - Have a DPSer somewhere.
Doesn't matter what server, class, or spec. Have a face melter in the shadows that you can decompress with. Nothing helps relieve the tension of a night of wipes like smashing faces in PvP/Arenas. Just don't take it too serious.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Learning to heal again
This last weekend I had a complete clusterfuck of an internet outage. Between pulling up fiber, capping the wrong person's access point, and a bunch of tom-foolery on the part of my cable company - I wound up missing night two of my 10 man, and almost missing night two of our 25 man Ulduar.
What I did have was a wireless modem that was supposed to give me 2.0 Mbps of full duplex connection (2.0 up and down) - which is at least satisfactory. I usually play on a 3.0 down and 1.5 up connection - so I figured it'd be alright.
Wrong.
I don't know if it was because the connection was wireless, if it was shared bandwidth, or what - but I spent the night trying to heal while bouncing between 800 and 3000 ping - and close to 15fps. I normally run 150ms with 60fps - even during the most intense Naxx AoE fests. Now though I was struggling to land any kind of efficient heal, and I was afraid I'd have to bow out to another raider. My biggest fear of course being that of missing out on my fragments...
What happened though was that my effective healing actually went up. I had to anticipate damage more than I have in the past, and really had to push to get heals in on time. Trying to gauge the time by keeping one eye on my lag and one on health bars meant I couldn't watch the raid like I usually do (for people in fires, etc) when leading - but at least I was healing strong.
Now that I've got my fast connection back, I am trying to keep that same mentality instead of slipping back into the comfort zone of reactionary healing. Obviously we're preemtive healers in Wrath anyway (same as in BC) where you're throwing heals out knowing that at any second the tank could be dropping. With all the haste we have now, it's tough to stop those casts from going off - even with a stopcasting macro.
In short, playing with a high lag made me a slightly better healer. Though I'm still letting the ret pally die...
What I did have was a wireless modem that was supposed to give me 2.0 Mbps of full duplex connection (2.0 up and down) - which is at least satisfactory. I usually play on a 3.0 down and 1.5 up connection - so I figured it'd be alright.
Wrong.
I don't know if it was because the connection was wireless, if it was shared bandwidth, or what - but I spent the night trying to heal while bouncing between 800 and 3000 ping - and close to 15fps. I normally run 150ms with 60fps - even during the most intense Naxx AoE fests. Now though I was struggling to land any kind of efficient heal, and I was afraid I'd have to bow out to another raider. My biggest fear of course being that of missing out on my fragments...
What happened though was that my effective healing actually went up. I had to anticipate damage more than I have in the past, and really had to push to get heals in on time. Trying to gauge the time by keeping one eye on my lag and one on health bars meant I couldn't watch the raid like I usually do (for people in fires, etc) when leading - but at least I was healing strong.
Now that I've got my fast connection back, I am trying to keep that same mentality instead of slipping back into the comfort zone of reactionary healing. Obviously we're preemtive healers in Wrath anyway (same as in BC) where you're throwing heals out knowing that at any second the tank could be dropping. With all the haste we have now, it's tough to stop those casts from going off - even with a stopcasting macro.
In short, playing with a high lag made me a slightly better healer. Though I'm still letting the ret pally die...
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Salute to MacGyver
One of the great things about WoW is the incredible flexibility and ingenuity that can go into playing the game. Coming up with off the wall ideas for handling bosses or instances, coming up with a strange new spec that is suddenly genius, or even just working through a complex mechanic - all of these allow the WoW player to flex thier brains along with their epeen.
I'm sure we all have our moments of genius, but here are a few of my favorite "MacGyverisms" I've seen or personally know of in the game. Some are genius, some are just pure talent, and some are mind-boggling crazy.
In no particular order....
Boomkin tanking...on Moroes. When we first ventured into Karazhan we were running one tank (me on my now dusty warrior - in greens), two healers (paladin and priest)*, and a mix of DPS. We certainly weren't ready, especially for Moroes. After single tanking the Huntsman - Thunderfury, I love you still - we roll up to Moroes. We spent the next few weeks tanking this fight using a flasked up Boomkin to tank when I was gouged. Oh backwards tanking trick - where were you then.
Holy Paladin tanking...on Skeletal Ushers. Again in Kara, along the same timeline as our Moroes kills, and before you could CC the Ushers. Our healadin would pop wings and just faceroll the keyboard to try and hold agro long enough for me to come out of iceblok, with the boomkin healing like her feathers were on fire. We'd usually lose one or two people on a pull, but damn if it wasn't funny to watch.
Solo tanking Hydross...minus the adds. I know I'm not the first person to have done this, but after having worlds of issues with getting tanks geared for Hydross and then having them leave the guild - or issues with threat on transitions - I built up a set of tanking resist gear that worked for both phases. It was an ugly set of gear, relying on a whole lot of void spheres for resistance - everything that had a socket slot was usable. I just wish I'd had the paladin AoE threat necessary to tank the adds too.
Five man of love
When I rolled into BC I teamed up with a couple of guildies who I really didn't know that well. Hell, I abused them while raid leading in Vanilla. Over the course of getting through Kara and leveling, we lived in 5 mans. Our little group was a healadin, a boomkin, a narcoleptic hunter (Oh Swiftin - where are you now), and a mage.
Back when CC was mandatory, especially for a warrior tank, we pulled out some amazing saves through luck and quick thinking. Without a doubt, I became a better tank during those runs - something I think new tanks are missing out on in current 5 mans and heroics. Shatterd Halls, Shadow Labs, Arcatraz...these instances were no joke. Unless you were running a prot pally, you couldn't just AoE your way through the place.
I turned 80 on my paladin in Wrath, hit a heroic in leveling gear, and waltzed through it. Seems kind of watered down. I think these skills are starting to be missed in the new raiders - they're not used to following marks, CC, or having to be quick on the keys to pick up adds.
Kids these days. They've got it easy.
*The healadin recently transferred over to our server, and it was like being re-united with a lost brother - even if he is ret now. Much like that lost brother there was much fighting and name calling, but that guy taught me what I know. He also writes the best guild apps ever, which is particularly entertaining.
I'm sure we all have our moments of genius, but here are a few of my favorite "MacGyverisms" I've seen or personally know of in the game. Some are genius, some are just pure talent, and some are mind-boggling crazy.
In no particular order....
Boomkin tanking...on Moroes. When we first ventured into Karazhan we were running one tank (me on my now dusty warrior - in greens), two healers (paladin and priest)*, and a mix of DPS. We certainly weren't ready, especially for Moroes. After single tanking the Huntsman - Thunderfury, I love you still - we roll up to Moroes. We spent the next few weeks tanking this fight using a flasked up Boomkin to tank when I was gouged. Oh backwards tanking trick - where were you then.
Holy Paladin tanking...on Skeletal Ushers. Again in Kara, along the same timeline as our Moroes kills, and before you could CC the Ushers. Our healadin would pop wings and just faceroll the keyboard to try and hold agro long enough for me to come out of iceblok, with the boomkin healing like her feathers were on fire. We'd usually lose one or two people on a pull, but damn if it wasn't funny to watch.
Solo tanking Hydross...minus the adds. I know I'm not the first person to have done this, but after having worlds of issues with getting tanks geared for Hydross and then having them leave the guild - or issues with threat on transitions - I built up a set of tanking resist gear that worked for both phases. It was an ugly set of gear, relying on a whole lot of void spheres for resistance - everything that had a socket slot was usable. I just wish I'd had the paladin AoE threat necessary to tank the adds too.
Five man of love
When I rolled into BC I teamed up with a couple of guildies who I really didn't know that well. Hell, I abused them while raid leading in Vanilla. Over the course of getting through Kara and leveling, we lived in 5 mans. Our little group was a healadin, a boomkin, a narcoleptic hunter (Oh Swiftin - where are you now), and a mage.
Back when CC was mandatory, especially for a warrior tank, we pulled out some amazing saves through luck and quick thinking. Without a doubt, I became a better tank during those runs - something I think new tanks are missing out on in current 5 mans and heroics. Shatterd Halls, Shadow Labs, Arcatraz...these instances were no joke. Unless you were running a prot pally, you couldn't just AoE your way through the place.
I turned 80 on my paladin in Wrath, hit a heroic in leveling gear, and waltzed through it. Seems kind of watered down. I think these skills are starting to be missed in the new raiders - they're not used to following marks, CC, or having to be quick on the keys to pick up adds.
Kids these days. They've got it easy.
*The healadin recently transferred over to our server, and it was like being re-united with a lost brother - even if he is ret now. Much like that lost brother there was much fighting and name calling, but that guy taught me what I know. He also writes the best guild apps ever, which is particularly entertaining.
Monday, June 1, 2009
On answering questions
one of the many jobs of being a guild officer is reading applications. I've seen everything from the three word answer to novels - and everything in between.
One thing that always boggles my mind however is when someone either doesn't answer a question, but instead posts some other type of information - or when they flat out refuse.
Recently we added the requirement of including a screenshot of your UI while in combat. We do this so we can see what kind of addons you're running, if it's totally custom and you might have problems on patch day, etc. It's also one of those "lets see if they can follow directions" type posts.
Regularly we get a list of addons, but no picture. Things from "I don't believe in posting shots of my UI" to just ignoring the request. It's my stance that failure to follow directions here will transfer directly into the raid instance. If you can't even be bothered to post a screenshot - or ask where/how to do it - I question your ability to stand where you're supposed to and work like a team.
Not all the officers feel this way, but these apps are an immediate no from me - just like a bad resume at work. Elitist? Maybe. But it's my rules, and I choose to stick with them.
More tomorrow - hopefully with a working Yogg strat.
One thing that always boggles my mind however is when someone either doesn't answer a question, but instead posts some other type of information - or when they flat out refuse.
Recently we added the requirement of including a screenshot of your UI while in combat. We do this so we can see what kind of addons you're running, if it's totally custom and you might have problems on patch day, etc. It's also one of those "lets see if they can follow directions" type posts.
Regularly we get a list of addons, but no picture. Things from "I don't believe in posting shots of my UI" to just ignoring the request. It's my stance that failure to follow directions here will transfer directly into the raid instance. If you can't even be bothered to post a screenshot - or ask where/how to do it - I question your ability to stand where you're supposed to and work like a team.
Not all the officers feel this way, but these apps are an immediate no from me - just like a bad resume at work. Elitist? Maybe. But it's my rules, and I choose to stick with them.
More tomorrow - hopefully with a working Yogg strat.
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