It's been a LONG time. I hate looking at blogs I read and never seeing what really happened why those who ran a blog didn't update or at least say good bye. Well, GOOD BYE!
Life has been crazy, hectic and well, as life should be, moving along. I'm FINALLY back to work. I've worked hard to get where I'm at, my knee while not 100% allows me do to do what I do. I'm a paramedic. I was a fire fighter and that is what I've worked to come back from. My kids are grown and they keep me busy.
What does this all mean?
I don't have time for the game. In fact I don't have a want to play the game. While off and working to get back to work, it was a security blanket and a way for me to continue to socialize.
My favorite time of the year is coming up in the game and well for the 1st time in 6 years I'll miss it. I do not however miss the game. WoW was a great old friend that I simply moved on from.
Thank you to a many, my blogger friends who pushed me to be a contributing member, even if I wasn't. My friends I made in game; Skreebo, Dogbone, Solic, Crimsonlock, Wolframm, Tom (zirrin), paleskinpete, and many others. Oh, by the way I've missed my 3rd year as a blogger. Take care all.
If anyone wants to reach me or say hi rmason92@gmail.com BYE
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thunderforged and the Green!
Long overdue and many broken promisises later, PTR 5.2 features green fire for Warlocks and a call from Blizz to increase the want/need to do 25 man content again. On top of that Tanks are beating on Ghostcrawler (GC) about the bad idea to stack haste and the fact that dodge/parry gear is horrible and I think Blizz is hearing the cry's from the player base that the overwhelming amount of dailies was bad, the reduction of VP after the 1st heroic 5 man.
In other words nothing new for the devs to handle but I think the later is driving the normal playbase away from the game in droves. In a quote from GC we are supposed to get the new ground breaking part of the game in an upcoming patch. (source) (source)
Bout time - This comes from a quest line that won't be open to everyone that comes form a piece of gear it seems to be in the unknown range just how but it looks like it starts in the Black Temple.
(source) (source)
The uproar on Haste - (we all seen it coming) almost seems long overdue. This incarnation of tanking features Hit/Exp and Haste and lacked the need for dodge/parry and to a smaller extent mastery. (source) (source)
Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Tyiliru
In other words nothing new for the devs to handle but I think the later is driving the normal playbase away from the game in droves. In a quote from GC we are supposed to get the new ground breaking part of the game in an upcoming patch. (source) (source)
Bout time - This comes from a quest line that won't be open to everyone that comes form a piece of gear it seems to be in the unknown range just how but it looks like it starts in the Black Temple.
(source) (source)
The uproar on Haste - (we all seen it coming) almost seems long overdue. This incarnation of tanking features Hit/Exp and Haste and lacked the need for dodge/parry and to a smaller extent mastery. (source) (source)
Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator) - For Protection, we do have plans to try and lower the value of haste relative to dodge and parry. We don't want to make haste terrible for paladins, but we agree that it's odd for it to be better than more traditional tank stats. It might require a nerf to Shield of the Righteous to do this, but our goal is not to nerf survivability overall. We just wanted to provide you some context if you see odd changes to tanking abilities.
Is there a reasoning behind this? It honestly feels like you're taking the opinions of a mysterious part of the playerbase (like the same portion who you quoted as "not liking DivPurP because it was too RNG") and changing the entire spec paradigm around it. Why push for MORE class homogenization when the game already has WAY too much?
The game just isn't currently designed to support it. It creates potential problems such as:
A Prot paladin competing with a Frost DK or Ret paladin over gear, meaning there isn't enough DPS plate to go around.
We understand that having a lot of haste feels fun and visceral and is more dependable than dodge and parry. We'll try to come up with a solution that keeps that in mind.
The game just isn't currently designed to support it. It creates potential problems such as:
A Prot paladin competing with a Frost DK or Ret paladin over gear, meaning there isn't enough DPS plate to go around.
- A Prot paladin considering a tier set with dodge and parry on it to be "garbage" because it doesn't stack all haste.
- A Prot paladin looking at a Ret 2pc set bonus that she normally wouldn't touch because now the stats aren't that bad either.
We understand that having a lot of haste feels fun and visceral and is more dependable than dodge and parry. We'll try to come up with a solution that keeps that in mind.
And along those lines we are now seeing the backlash of the daily grind and the loss of the once "cool" seven 5 man VP grind that was introduced mid-cata, we now the the max once a day then as Blizzard states, we can do 20 in a day but a much reduced level, almost forcing players to log on or it is, in essence a waste of time. (source) (source)
Strongly prefer 7x/wk. Can't play weekdays much, like to grind on weekends. Its was fun for me in cata
You can still do that. The runs after the first still give valor. It's not the most efficient way possible, but totally works. (Source)
Look at it this way. I got few hours per week to play & not every day. 7x/wk means I get full valor. Other not.
I can appreciate that. The current model is intended to be a compromise between folks who want long sessions vs. many sessions. (Source)
7 per week allows you both to do them on one day or on 7 days. The current implementation doesnt (without dr on vp)
But the current one lets you do 20 a week if you really want to. (Source)
you traded the one efficient way in cata for the one efficient way here. Don't pretend you're more diverse.
Disagree. The big difference in the previous two systems is after X you got *no* valor. Very hard to play other ways. (Source)
Do you honestly think players want to do 20 per week? RT But the current one lets you do 20 a week if you really wa
How many should you do a week? (As an aside, more did 1/day than 7/ week.) (Source)
it's something only HC raiders (a minority of the raiders) would say, or someone with more time than skill.
HC raiders tend to do content anyway. It's more casual raiders who drop out if rewards and prestige are lacking. (Source)
so am i right in asumming you are designing content for a slim minority and saying screw the rest of yall?
How did you get that from what I said? I said we tend to see players give up when their accomplishments are too easily outdated. (Source)
You seriously want players to have to grind 5.0 content before running 5.2?
Is it fair to players who played in 5.0 if they aren't ahead of those who did not? (I don't think we ever said "grind.") (Source)
I'd like to see the numbers/proof of this "the less hardcore raiders quit when we provide catch up stuff" crap.
You don't see it all the time? Think about those players who get lazy when a tier is near done. It's like that but more so. (Source)
You can still do that. The runs after the first still give valor. It's not the most efficient way possible, but totally works. (Source)
Look at it this way. I got few hours per week to play & not every day. 7x/wk means I get full valor. Other not.
I can appreciate that. The current model is intended to be a compromise between folks who want long sessions vs. many sessions. (Source)
7 per week allows you both to do them on one day or on 7 days. The current implementation doesnt (without dr on vp)
But the current one lets you do 20 a week if you really want to. (Source)
you traded the one efficient way in cata for the one efficient way here. Don't pretend you're more diverse.
Disagree. The big difference in the previous two systems is after X you got *no* valor. Very hard to play other ways. (Source)
Do you honestly think players want to do 20 per week? RT But the current one lets you do 20 a week if you really wa
How many should you do a week? (As an aside, more did 1/day than 7/ week.) (Source)
it's something only HC raiders (a minority of the raiders) would say, or someone with more time than skill.
HC raiders tend to do content anyway. It's more casual raiders who drop out if rewards and prestige are lacking. (Source)
so am i right in asumming you are designing content for a slim minority and saying screw the rest of yall?
How did you get that from what I said? I said we tend to see players give up when their accomplishments are too easily outdated. (Source)
You seriously want players to have to grind 5.0 content before running 5.2?
Is it fair to players who played in 5.0 if they aren't ahead of those who did not? (I don't think we ever said "grind.") (Source)
I'd like to see the numbers/proof of this "the less hardcore raiders quit when we provide catch up stuff" crap.
You don't see it all the time? Think about those players who get lazy when a tier is near done. It's like that but more so. (Source)
And the icing on the cake of what is going on in the PTR is the new Thunderforged. Briefly we now have upwards of 6 versions of gear; LFR, normal gear, normal Thunderforged, heroic gear, and heroic Thunderforged. Blizz is doing this to give upgrades for what all of us have done, getting a chance at upgraded loot on a boss you might still be progressing on and getting a special cooking by getting Thunderforged gear. Wouldn't this had been nice pre-M'uru nerf in Sunwell?
Just why is Blizz doing all this? They have increased Thunderforged gear drops in 25 man, a bit too late to help increase 25 man raids. Blizz in some way seems, in a mercy attempt to keep 25 mans solvent, being throwing a bone for those who want to stick with it. It is not their fault it is easier to set up a 10 man platform on a 7 year old game who's numbers of solid raiders are dropping. They are rewarding what here? Ants on a sugar cube! Really, if you make is so better loot falls, people will come, for now and then back out after the special snow flake gear is gone or acquired. A shoddy attempt if you ask me.
(Source)
Tyiliru
Coming to the PTR in the near future will be a new designation of item type in Normal and Heroic raids for non-tier pieces. Each 5.2 raid boss will have a chance of dropping this new designation of a particular item that's 6 item levels higher than their counterparts. These higher quality versions will be called "Thunderforged". This means that there will be five variations of some items. You'll now see a 5.2 raid item of LFR quality at item level 502, the same item in Normal quality at item level 522, the item in Normal Thunderforged quality at item level 528, the Heroic version of the item at level 535, and the Heroic Thunderforged version of the item at level 541.
This new item designation is being added for a couple reasons, but first and foremost to make loot drops more interesting overall, especially after you have earlier bosses in Throne of Thunder on farm. As you're working on progression, those first few bosses can now continue to provide a chance at upgrades, making repeated kills potentially more exciting and rewarding. Those additional upgrades can then help to slowly raise power, and boost you over whatever progression roadblock you may hit.
We've also received a lot of feedback regarding 25-player raids, and have been looking for ways to address some concerns. Ever since we changed 10-player raids to drop the same item level as 25's, we've seen a steady decline in 25-player raiding. This isn't surprising. A 25-player raid takes an extra level of logistical commitment for the officers of those groups. It's unfortunately easy for a 25-player guild to collapse down into a 10-player guild, but very unlikely for the opposite to happen. However, we like 25-player raiding and don't want to see it go away. Like many players, we love the epic feeling that comes with banding together more massive groups to battle powerful foes, we love that there's opportunity for those groups to try out new players or unusual comps without causing a huge burden, and we want to support the larger raiding guilds. That said, we're also concerned that over-rewarding the 25-player guilds-if, for example, we went back to a higher item level across the board for 25's, as was the case for Icecrown Citadel-would feel like a slap in the face to the many 10-player raiders out there, who are the majority of our Normal and Heroic raiders.
To attempt to navigate this minefield, we're going to try having Thunderforged items drop more frequently in 25-player raids. They'll be somewhat rare in both cases compared to the standard versions that'll drop, but they'll be even rarer in 10's. Overall, a 25-player group will be more likely to end up with a slightly higher item level after several weeks of raiding.
It's important to keep in mind that this only affects 10- and 25-player Normal and Heroic raids, and tier-15 armor pieces won't be available in Thunderforged quality at all. We're curious to hear your thoughts about these changes, and what you think once you begin seeing them on the PTR..
This new item designation is being added for a couple reasons, but first and foremost to make loot drops more interesting overall, especially after you have earlier bosses in Throne of Thunder on farm. As you're working on progression, those first few bosses can now continue to provide a chance at upgrades, making repeated kills potentially more exciting and rewarding. Those additional upgrades can then help to slowly raise power, and boost you over whatever progression roadblock you may hit.
We've also received a lot of feedback regarding 25-player raids, and have been looking for ways to address some concerns. Ever since we changed 10-player raids to drop the same item level as 25's, we've seen a steady decline in 25-player raiding. This isn't surprising. A 25-player raid takes an extra level of logistical commitment for the officers of those groups. It's unfortunately easy for a 25-player guild to collapse down into a 10-player guild, but very unlikely for the opposite to happen. However, we like 25-player raiding and don't want to see it go away. Like many players, we love the epic feeling that comes with banding together more massive groups to battle powerful foes, we love that there's opportunity for those groups to try out new players or unusual comps without causing a huge burden, and we want to support the larger raiding guilds. That said, we're also concerned that over-rewarding the 25-player guilds-if, for example, we went back to a higher item level across the board for 25's, as was the case for Icecrown Citadel-would feel like a slap in the face to the many 10-player raiders out there, who are the majority of our Normal and Heroic raiders.
To attempt to navigate this minefield, we're going to try having Thunderforged items drop more frequently in 25-player raids. They'll be somewhat rare in both cases compared to the standard versions that'll drop, but they'll be even rarer in 10's. Overall, a 25-player group will be more likely to end up with a slightly higher item level after several weeks of raiding.
It's important to keep in mind that this only affects 10- and 25-player Normal and Heroic raids, and tier-15 armor pieces won't be available in Thunderforged quality at all. We're curious to hear your thoughts about these changes, and what you think once you begin seeing them on the PTR..
Til next time, thanks!
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Too Late, so Sorry!
This is not the 1st time this has happened to me, and I'm guessing it won't be the last time either. Looking back it happens far to often so maybe I should just get more posts out when I get the, "Hey that would be a great blog post". More about that later.
Almost immediately after I posted my last thoughts last night, I ran into the info about Blizzard giving close to $2.5 Million the Red Cross for their Super storm Sandy relief effort. I think that is just amazing. I actually went and bought the pet for that purpose and blogged about it. Here is the complete story here ~ The Cinder Kitty ! (source)
Why didn't I post it, well, I was on the tired side and wanted to get into an LFR, and I must say, it was a very productive night for me in WOW. I finally after about 4 years got my Amani Battle Bear. I narrowly lost it in TBC and really never gave it a serious go in Cata when it was fresh.
After doing some browsing, I seen a story of a level 80, yes I said 80, who was soloing MSV (certain bosses) In this video and MMO-Champion thread. Blizzard has fixed the issues that allowed him to use the coding mechanics to do this. Good on the chap for completing this, it really is (armory) a breath of fresh air after posting about my "major" issue I had in my last post.
Well, to make a long story short, I ran into a video that talks about EVERYTHING I wanted to mention, so I was beat to the punch by maybe the most adorable person in WOW. The one and only Panser Smash. So Panser, please forgive me for sharing your info and giving you pub in my writings, but you are always entertaining and sure to put a smile on everyone's face when doing your videos. Thanks for what you do. All the info was spot on (aside from the 12 man raid oops!) and I was just a bit too late. I'd love to continue talking about what is already out there or I could just post the YOUTUBE video that is already made. So please check the video out and I'm sure she would want you to subscribe to her channel.
Enjoy!
Almost immediately after I posted my last thoughts last night, I ran into the info about Blizzard giving close to $2.5 Million the Red Cross for their Super storm Sandy relief effort. I think that is just amazing. I actually went and bought the pet for that purpose and blogged about it. Here is the complete story here ~ The Cinder Kitty ! (source)Why didn't I post it, well, I was on the tired side and wanted to get into an LFR, and I must say, it was a very productive night for me in WOW. I finally after about 4 years got my Amani Battle Bear. I narrowly lost it in TBC and really never gave it a serious go in Cata when it was fresh.
After doing some browsing, I seen a story of a level 80, yes I said 80, who was soloing MSV (certain bosses) In this video and MMO-Champion thread. Blizzard has fixed the issues that allowed him to use the coding mechanics to do this. Good on the chap for completing this, it really is (armory) a breath of fresh air after posting about my "major" issue I had in my last post.
Well, to make a long story short, I ran into a video that talks about EVERYTHING I wanted to mention, so I was beat to the punch by maybe the most adorable person in WOW. The one and only Panser Smash. So Panser, please forgive me for sharing your info and giving you pub in my writings, but you are always entertaining and sure to put a smile on everyone's face when doing your videos. Thanks for what you do. All the info was spot on (aside from the 12 man raid oops!) and I was just a bit too late. I'd love to continue talking about what is already out there or I could just post the YOUTUBE video that is already made. So please check the video out and I'm sure she would want you to subscribe to her channel.Enjoy!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Maybe the Worst Thread Ever!
Sorry for the delay in posting the last few weeks. I hope everyone is enjoying their new year and sticking to their resolutions. As if anyone ever does!
On to the thread-
So even if I don't post or log on, I jump on a few web sites daily just to browse the game and see what might be coming up with the game. I guess you can parlay that too the generation before us sitting down after work and reading the newspaper. Its just how I do it. Most of the time while reading some threads on MMO-Champion, my jaw hits the floor. I mean some of the comments and posts are just out of this world. It really is entertainment.
This thread that I post on truly struck me. I guess people just don't have pride; pride in themselves, their guild tag, their toon or are plain too lazy to push keys. I was shocked to read what I was, and it was all as an excuse of "well, no one else does it" so that must make it ok.
This poll, in which [about] 800 people voted for, shows that close to 61% go AFK while in LFR. (Source) So why am I spending my time caring about what others do in LFR? The sheer number of people who say its ok to white swing or not even attack while doing a (scaled down) raid. The problem is in the sheer number that don't even feels bad about it. I will post a few anonymous quotes in case you don't want to read thru 18 pages of this disgusting thread.
This wasn't everyone of them, maybe not even the worst, but really the outrage by those that don't wasn't there. Is this what we have fallen to as a gaming community. I remember in TBC when you entered a 5 man pug or pug'd a Kara run, if you even thought about using Rep gear or a EPIC piece of PVP gear you got the "welfare tag" or the tell/lecture saying you shouldn't be wasting everyone's time by joining.
My head is still spinning by reading and contributing to this monstrosity of a thread, showing exactly how gross OUR community has become. To some of the posters credit, there were jabs thrown at those that those who so excitedly proclaimed that going AFK is just the thing to do while doing LFR. But really, that is MMO-Champion, which leads to some of the longest, most drawn out bickering I've ever seen in a thread. That outrage, never really showed up.
I also understand most have to AFK at one point in a fight. I had the stomach flu a few weeks back and had to bolt for a few minutes, I should have not que'd for LFR but when I came back after taking care of my incident, I did ALL I could to catch up and not look like a tag along. I guess that is where I differ than most that are in this tread, I care and have pride. Well, if only more thought that way.
I remember just before the WOW Armory changed over to the new one, there was a 20+ page thread dealing with a 5 man run where a player had to take a few minute break for her child. The outcry in that thread was far worse than anything in the MMO-Champion. Point is, in a 5 man, you can't push ahead and must work as a team. I think this is where Blizzard has let us down, in LFR you have no need work as a team, as long as the Tank doesn't kiss the carpet, and during AOE damage the healers keep the DPS alive, it is a win. Sadly, with the ease of LFR, that is pretty much every fight.
I will stop my rant, now. What are your thoughts on people AFK ing? I'd love to hear what others have to say about this. Because it really only bothers me that it is so acceptable to do now. This isn't the game I started playing, any longer I guess.
On to the thread-
So even if I don't post or log on, I jump on a few web sites daily just to browse the game and see what might be coming up with the game. I guess you can parlay that too the generation before us sitting down after work and reading the newspaper. Its just how I do it. Most of the time while reading some threads on MMO-Champion, my jaw hits the floor. I mean some of the comments and posts are just out of this world. It really is entertainment.
This thread that I post on truly struck me. I guess people just don't have pride; pride in themselves, their guild tag, their toon or are plain too lazy to push keys. I was shocked to read what I was, and it was all as an excuse of "well, no one else does it" so that must make it ok.
This poll, in which [about] 800 people voted for, shows that close to 61% go AFK while in LFR. (Source) So why am I spending my time caring about what others do in LFR? The sheer number of people who say its ok to white swing or not even attack while doing a (scaled down) raid. The problem is in the sheer number that don't even feels bad about it. I will post a few anonymous quotes in case you don't want to read thru 18 pages of this disgusting thread.
Usually I burst all cd's win dps then afk till execute phase and win dps again. Some fights just ain't worth my time and I completely tab out/leave the computer.
my 4 alts I afk hard when I bother to run them. Autoattack, tab to netflix, etc.
yeah on my rogue this week i was afk for all 16 bosses, playing lol on the other screeen only got kicked 1 time - but hey i could que again
Always walk up and hit the boss and get my free sha crystals. That's all the casuals deserve out of me.
I afk a LOT on my alts, Also you can easily afk on bosses. Just attack it once and then idle in the melee pool. No one will notice cause you don't even show up on meters.
I try to afk as much as possible. Auto attacking and then spamming execute usually makes it look like i am just a bad with crap gear. Sometimes i don't deal any damage at all because then i won't show up on recount/skada and people will most of the time not notice me not doing anything
This wasn't everyone of them, maybe not even the worst, but really the outrage by those that don't wasn't there. Is this what we have fallen to as a gaming community. I remember in TBC when you entered a 5 man pug or pug'd a Kara run, if you even thought about using Rep gear or a EPIC piece of PVP gear you got the "welfare tag" or the tell/lecture saying you shouldn't be wasting everyone's time by joining.
My head is still spinning by reading and contributing to this monstrosity of a thread, showing exactly how gross OUR community has become. To some of the posters credit, there were jabs thrown at those that those who so excitedly proclaimed that going AFK is just the thing to do while doing LFR. But really, that is MMO-Champion, which leads to some of the longest, most drawn out bickering I've ever seen in a thread. That outrage, never really showed up.
I also understand most have to AFK at one point in a fight. I had the stomach flu a few weeks back and had to bolt for a few minutes, I should have not que'd for LFR but when I came back after taking care of my incident, I did ALL I could to catch up and not look like a tag along. I guess that is where I differ than most that are in this tread, I care and have pride. Well, if only more thought that way.
I remember just before the WOW Armory changed over to the new one, there was a 20+ page thread dealing with a 5 man run where a player had to take a few minute break for her child. The outcry in that thread was far worse than anything in the MMO-Champion. Point is, in a 5 man, you can't push ahead and must work as a team. I think this is where Blizzard has let us down, in LFR you have no need work as a team, as long as the Tank doesn't kiss the carpet, and during AOE damage the healers keep the DPS alive, it is a win. Sadly, with the ease of LFR, that is pretty much every fight.
I will stop my rant, now. What are your thoughts on people AFK ing? I'd love to hear what others have to say about this. Because it really only bothers me that it is so acceptable to do now. This isn't the game I started playing, any longer I guess.
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