Break

I haven't had much time for gaming in the past few weeks, and it looks like that trend may continue. Seeing as this blog is dedicated to gaming, and my lack thereof recently, I haven't had anything to post.

So it's au revoir for now; hopefully we'll meet again in the near future! =)

Character Update

WoW
I'm still playing WoW with my girlfriend; our two gnome mages are level 66 & 64.
It's a good thing we're taking it slow, because I don't know if I have it in me for the gear grind at 80. I seriously think I will revert to BGs only at level 80 unless I can get a core group to do 5-man instances. I have no interest in raiding. That is the same approach I took when I hit 70 on my first mage- BGs and Arenas.

Darkfall
My Human on Darkfall is slowly, but surely, getting up there. I'm currently sitting at...

65 - Lesser Magic
49 - Mana Missile
61 - Heal Self
13 - Mana-to-Stamina
30 - Greater Axe
30 - 1h Sword
25 - Parry
20-25 - Most Defences (Rigor, Defence, Fortitude, etc.)

50+ on gathering timber, ore, and herbs.

I need to get my hands on some arrows to start my archery. I'll probably purchase the Bowyer skill along with Herbalism. That way I can make my own arrows and potions, and gathering the herbs to make potions gives a few berries. That allows me to equip myself with all the consumables and just worry about purchasing armor, weps, and mounts.

If anyone is located near the Human / Alfar lands, and is interested in some PvE gold grind, then let me know. I know a few good secluded spots. I would ask the clan, but if it doesn't involve the blood wall, they don't look too interested, hehe. I keed, I keed!

EvE
I'm not currently subscribed to EvE, but before I canceled, I had all my learning skills (tier 1 & 2) up to LvL 4. I was also just getting into some of the Tech II frigates, and was working on Tech II small blasters as well as other T2 small modules.

I am set to hit factional PvP pretty easily when I do come back.

Dakfall: New Player Tip

When you start out in Darkfall you will be hard-up for gold, weapons, and armor. The typical MMO player response to this is to grind out some starter mobs and build up some supplies before venturing to harder mobs with better loot.

That idea sounds good, but what if I told you how to save 2-3 hours of time grinding mobs?

Yes, that is right, you start with a +10 alignment in Darkfall. What is alignment you say? Your alignment is basically your moral scale. It ranges from -100 through +10. You start at +10, but you will lose -8 alignment points when you kill a member of your own races' alliance.

If you drop below zero alignment you will become red (murderer) and not be able to enter NPC towns (there are PK towns where the guard towers won't zap you, though).

Where am I going with all this? Well if your simple math is as bad as mine, then I don't blame you for missing it above; however, take a look again. Yes, that is right, you basically get a "free" kill when you start your character.

I decided to take this advantage and make the most out of it. So this weekend while hunting mobs in a populated area I observed my surroundings. It was late and there was only one other person hunting. This person had been there a long time by the looks of the graves.

So I did what any self respecting player killer would do. I murdered the person when they were busy with a goblin mob.

After all was said and done, I thanked the goblin for his help with a mana missile to the face and proceeded to take my 2-3 hours worth of loot and skipped all the way to the bank.

The goblins drop 5-10g per, and this guy had over 300g on him and TONS of weapons and armor- not to mention the potions, food, and other random supplies. It would have taken me 4-5 hours to gather everything this guy was carrying.

But wait, that's not all!!!

Actually it is... I've just always wanted to say that.

I'm a $2 MMO Whore

Yes, it's true, I get around when it comes to MMOs. I went ahead and canceled EvE online for now. I trained plenty of skills towards my HAC pvp goal, but I still don't have the time (currently) for a game that takes so much preparation for PvP.

I will come back to EvE, as I always do, but for now I'm going to relax in two MMOs.

The first being WoW. This game I played for about 3 years, and the whole time was pretty fun. The game is solid and has a sprinkle of everything; however, it is still a themepark game- I've ridden every ride in that park =/

But, I have not ridden the WoW themepark rides with my girlfriend yet. She is currently enthralled with WoW (her first MMO), and plays it religiously. I went ahead and bought another copy and started my own gnome mage to roll around with her.

Even though I've played WoW through and through already, it still has a shred of fun by experiencing it with someone sitting next to you. Also, I feel pretty useful answering all her WoW questions- probably my first time as the SME (Subject Matter Expert).

The problem with just playing WoW is that when she, or other people I know IRL, are not around or online- I have no desire to play the game. Enter: Darkfall

I created my new character on the North American server last night; this time I went with a human as there looks like no chance of Mahirim ever getting 4LR (Four-legged-run).

Now I know what your thinking... Darkfall takes time to prep for PvP just as EvE, what gives? The answer is yes, they both have preps that takes place before PvP, but in Darkfall it's the resource gathering (food, regs, arrows, armor) that takes the time. Once you have a stock-pile of supplies, then it's just a matter of grabbing your sh!t and heading out.

In EvE it's the gathering of resources AND the actual ship fittings before leaving the station. I know you can stock up on modules and save equipment loadouts, but it still would be monotonous prep times.

I'm going to remain guildless in Darkfall for now since my guild on EU-1, Inquisition, has decided not to pickup the North American release, but rather wait for Aion. If you're planning on playing Aion and don't have a guild yet, then look into Inquisition (link on the sidebar), they are a great guild with awesome leadership.

After a month or so of skill gains and resource gathering I'll start to search for a guild, but I might join one sooner since I can't wait for more group PvP stories to share with the blog.

Linear Progression Leveling Should Lead to a Horizontal Ssandbox

I realize there is a strict line between Themepark style games, ala WoW, and Sandbox games, ala EvE; however, I want to know why both environments can't come together.

Why can't there be an MMO where there is a linear progression game of quest and leveling up till level cap, and then the vertical character growth stops and horizontal growth begins.

The end game would be void of quest and such, but have more other things to do, such as housing, world events (this should really happen more in all MMOs), and collectibles.

There would still be raids, but the rewards would be cool furniture for your house, or some rare outfit you could don at the bank. I'm reaching far here on the rewards, but they could really be anything that didn't give your character additional power.

Would most of the linear progression types be turned off from a system like this once they hit level cap and gathering more powerful items for their character wasn't possible?

What about the reverse; would a sandbox player be able to stomach 80 levels of quest just to get to the sandbox?

What game was I playing...?

The Ancient Gaming Noob had this idea awhile back and it was brilliant- so much so, that I decided to run with it myself. Thanks Ancient Gaming Noob!

All you have to do is read the quick description of what took place in the game and guess which game I was playing.

On to the story...

The forums announced a wedding to take place; my guild master at the time reads this post and plans on the guild attending this event. The guild master gathers everyone up an hour before the wedding takes place.

We equip ourselves with explosives and dress in formal attire for the event. Once the wedding starts and we're inside among the crowd we announce over roger wilco the countdown until we all trigger our explosives.

The explosives go off and everyone, including the bride and groom are running around trying to avoid the damage, but in the end almost everyone at the wedding died, including ourselves from the explosions (a few people made it out the door and ran away).

I felt bad for grieving a wedding, but at the same time I was amazed that this kind of content could come from a GAME, an MMO for that matter...

Darkfall News Leads Player to EvE Online

Ok, maybe the title is a little over-the-top, but the recent news of Darkfall wanting players to pay for their game a SECOND time just to play on the American server is ridiculous. As much as I love Darkfall I don't think I can bring myself to pay another 50 bones!

So until I can log on and create a new character on the American server without purchasing the game a second time... I'll be playing EvE.

I just qualified to fly Interceptors last night, and while I have enough cash to drop 22m on a Taranis, I just don't want to fly the ship until I have more supporting skills, such as Tech II Small Blasters / Rails.
I also need to do some research on reprocessing and manufacturing. I have been reprocessing meta one items and selling everything else. I need to find out which skill increases your yield from reprocessing, and which skill lowers the materials needed for manufacturing. I want to start making my own ammo, and maybe some small frigates.

I really wish people could have enough standings with a newbie corp to at least make ONE clone! I have a whole set of +3 implants that are preventing me from PvP right now. Now those are not the most extravagant implants, but they still cost me money. I have 5.0 standing with the Federal Intelligent Agency, but it goes up SOOO slow from running missions. I'll be happy once I get a couple clones setup so I can PvP implant free- for now.

So other than running around EvE and finishing the light-side / dark-side ending of KOTOR, I'm just waiting for more news about Darkfall. I really hope they change their minds and come up with another way to get American players over to the new server.

As I've probably mentioned, I am planning on rerolling with my clan on NA-1 when it's released. I'm just tired of the wolf and it's ridiculous size disadvantage; I'll be rerolling human this time around. I'll also probably drop polearms for 2h swords, but everything else skill-wise will remain the same.

I have taken a short break from Darkfall until the new American server is released; I don't want to get burnt out on the EU-1 server while waiting for NA-1.

I decided to install Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) and give it a run since I was deep into MMO's back in 2003 when the game was released. I have to say Bioware did a great job on this game; the game is a blast to play for a six year-old title.

So far I've cleared Dantooine, Tatooine, and half of Mannana (sp?). Other than two decisive decisions involving currency, I've chosen Light-side responses during my conversations. Those two Dark-side responses saved me 4,500 credits, so I think the slight Dark-side hit was worth it.

I just wonder how well Bioware will be able to incorporate this so-called "story" pillar into their upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. I mean it works great in the single player RPG environment, but how are my responses to the story going to change the story if other people are involved. What if someone from my party picks a different response than me in an instance, dungeon, plex, whatever- would they see different content than me during that run?

I'm not sure how they're going to do it, but if the game is as fun as their single player titles, then I think they'll have a hit on their hands. I will definitely check it out, but it wouldn't be a long-term solution to my MMO habit. I'm sticking with Darkfall for that. I just can't put in the amount (high) of effort I want to in a character in the themepark setting. It's fun to run through those types of games, ala WoW, but for me they're better left once you hit max level. I don't care how fun a themepark is, but if you ridden all the rides you will eventually get bored.

A sandbox game, however, has infinite amount of content generated through the imagination of the players- now that's my type of end-game!!!

Poll Results (and a new poll)

Do you currently play Darkfall Online?

24 Total Votes

Yes, I've already made the purchase and I'm in the game.
17 votes (70%)

No, but I'm still trying to purchase the game.
3 votes (12%)

No, and I have no interest in playing.
0 votes (0%)

What is Darkfall?
4 votes (16%)

General Update

The LAN party was great; we all had a blast and made it home safely.

Now on to the reason I started this blog- my MMO addiction. I haven't been playing Darkfall since I got back because of the announcement from AV on transfers to NA-1. Now they were not specific, but they did say it would be "months" before transferred would be allowed to NA-1.

Our clan has been discussing our options and it looks like we'll probably be re-rolling on NA-1 the day it's released. I think everyone is kind of looking forward to a fresh start- not to mention with a much lower ping.

There are six races in the game, but after playing for a few months now I know which I like and dislike and for what reasons. The wolf is just too big. In a game where foliage provides cover and there are no radars or names over people's head, being 7'2" does not help.

The Ork and Dwarves are just too ugly. I'm about 50/50 when it comes to picking between looks & functionality, but those two races look horrible.

The Humans, Elves, and Alfar are all possible choices for me on the reroll, and it appears to be the general preference in the clan right now. So until NA-1 gets released supposedly in June, I'll just be playing Counter-Strike and only logging in to Darkfall for occasional PvP on my EU-1 character- I just won't be gaining skills or worrying about stocking up my bank.

Leaving Tonight for Austin

I'm leaving late tonight for the LAN party which last through Monday. We'll be playing Counter-Strike: Source and Crysis: Wars this time around. Unless there was a last minute sign-up, it looks like we'll have about 18 guys. We were aiming for 20 so we could have four 5v5 teams for CS:S, and two 10v10 teams for Crysis: Wars, but 18 will have to do.

It's usually FPS action all weekend, but since it's a 24/3 weekend, people take breaks to check email and listen to music. I on the other hand will be milling for herbs in Darkfall so I can get my herbalism to 50+ to make the moderate potions for PvP. I've also saved up a nice stack of berries for food as well from milling herbs. As far as I can tell the food variants only differ in the amount of time the food buff last - not in severity. If this is the case, then the berries aren't a terrible selection until I can make it to the ocean for some fishing.

I also need to start saving my metal for armor sets since my clan has moved too far for me to make purchases from my normal armor vendor. I like paying cash for armor sets and using my mats to make arrows and increase my own crafting profession at the same time. The problem is that all the guild armorsmiths prefer to craft sets for the mats only and usually don't have spare sets for sale. I might just buy the mats with the money and turn that over to the armorsmiths - that way everybody wins.

Well, wish me luck for the LAN tourneys - I'll need it with my rusty FPS skills =p

Upcoming LAN

I haven't been able to get any Darkfall time because I've been playing Counter Strike: Source in preparation for an upcoming LAN party I attend every year.

I didn't play CS at all before last years LAN and I ended up getting schooled because I was rusty. This year, however, I'm going to kick some ass. I've been playing a little each night and I feel like I'm almost back to my normal skill level.

I will still get owned by most of the players there since some of these guys are old school bad ass CS players, but I will hold my own!

I will get more Darkfall content posted when I get some time to play, but fear not, I'm still VERY addicted to Darkfall and it's the only MMO I plan to play. Seriously, if you haven't checked it out by now, you're missing out on a great experience!

Darkfall Postcard

Darkfall Harvesting, Loot, and Keys

I finally harvested my first Steedgrass the other night, and oddly enough a clan-mate messaged me right after I harvested it offering his taming (turning Steedgrass into a mount) services.

I still have not looted another veilron key since my first one only a week into the game. I have seen another drop, but with 10 people molesting the corpse of the fallen foe, it's hard to be that quick on the loot.

For those who don't know, Darkfall mobs have a chance of dropping a key; the key opens statically placed chest throughout the world of Agon, and they're based off the difficulty of the mob. The first tier keys are called salentine and sell for 200g a pop. This is because there is 200g in the chest when you open it + magically enhanced items. So people are paying for the chance to get some nice items because the gold is reimbursed upon opening the chest.

The second tier key is the veilron, and this one typically sells for 2000g since, just as the previous key, it has this amount of gold in the chest. I sold my first veilron key for 1900g because I was hard-up for cash and it was late with no buyers (plus the guy came to me).

There are higher tiers of keys, but I have yet to see those or even hear of one in trade chat. I have heard the next tier up holds 4000g in it, though. I'm looking forward to getting my first drop of THAT magnitude.

On a side note, I have severely improved my mounted combat! I am now able to hit someone almost every time I ride past, barring a cluster fuck when too many clan-mates bunch up instead of riding through. I'm wondering if splitting into separate formations when we have 5+ guys on mounts. It seems having a few groups of 3 seems to be the magic number. With this amount you can have group 1 ride by first, then group 2, and so on. This way there's never more than 3 people passing the target at once, and it dissolves the cluster fuck situations that only benefit the opponents on the ground.

Splitting into formation groups would also help when there's multiple targets. You would be able to send each group after certain targets which should increase overall efficiency of making sure all swords are swinging constantly and attacking someone rather than waiting your chance to ride by and get a single hit.

Darkfall - PvP Ambush

I logged on late last night to get some game time in before bed, but because of the late hour I figured I would just gather timber & ore to craft some arrows.

That was before I heard the call in vent for help defending our clan's hamlet. I started throwing my gear together and prepared to head out; however, by the time I made it to the hamlet, two of our guys had chased off the attackers. They weren't far away, so I made my way towards them on my mount. I was halfway to their location when I noticed I was taking damage from behind; upon rotating my camera angle (something you can do while mounted), I noticed I was being chased by 3 mounted players with an additional guy dismounted trying to shoot down my mount with his bow.

I called out the situation in vent and was instructed to lead them north towards the other two clan members I was already headed towards. I cut and weaved around trees and hills to avoid the incoming arrows from killing my mount before I reached the soon-to-be ambush location. We had two members hiding behind a rock directly up ahead, and another rapidly approaching from the south, which would turn this fight into a 4v4. But as I rode past the rock hiding our guys, I looked back to see a couple of the enemies mounts quickly drop due to arrows from our skilled archers that had popped out from behind the rock. They didn't know what hit them!

Even outnumbered 4 to 3, we still had the element of surprise, and this was the prevailing factor! I circled back around, now with only one enemy chasing me on mount, but I ignored him and moved directly to the almost-dead guy on foot. I rode by and landed a successful hit (I'm getting better at mounted combat). The clan-mate approaching from the south had just arrived and landed the next hit on this enemy for the final blow.

By this time we dispatched three of their guys, and only one remained and was hauling ass into the distance on his mount. With all the commotion on vent, another 4 clan members had arrived and helped us chase the last guy. We ended up calling off the chase and everyone headed back to the hamlet. I called it a night at that point, since it was already late to begin with.

I wish I could have seen the look on those guys faces when they thought I was their lone prey and how quickly they became the hunted with a spur of the moment trap. It's moments like these you just can't find in a themepark MMO; Darkfall is shaping up to be a great MMORPG!

Darkfall - Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I wasn't able to get the game until a month after release, but while some people on the forums are whining about their late start, I know better from past experiences.

When I started Ultima Online back in 1997 I was PK'd everyday left and right, but I kept at it, and instead of crying about it, I learned the game and ended up coming back and slaughtering all those that had killed me (Yes, I am deranged, and I do keep a list).

So to all those people upset there are others with a month worth of skill gains ahead of them; this isn't EvE where a player can constantly train for 5+ years and never reach max skills. You will eventually- sooner than you think- hit max skills in your chosen area of expertise. You will have your day in the sun, but you have to stick to it and keep working your skills while practising PvP.

Also, to those complaining the game is boring; if you haven't found a clan and experienced group PvP in Darkfall, then I can completely understand. This is the foundation of the game, and if you avoid it, play around it, or out-right skip it, then I can understand your boredom. This game is meant to be played with a group, so get in a clan!

The game has its flaws, but for anyone that played and enjoyed old school UO, then the flaws seem minor because the PvP and sandbox immersion are just THAT fun!

As the title of this post states; this game isn't WoW where you can hit end game in one week and then melt faces with minimal PvP experience. The game is suppose to be a grind, and PvP is suppose to be something to practise and get better at. I think my heart melted when I saw people in clan chat talking about getting better at mounted combat; this game will go down as one of my top MMOs, and I've played 20+ titles in the genre (again, yes, I am deranged).

Darkfall Crafting

I picked up my first crafting skill in Darkfall Online; because I am training archery, I decided to take the bowyer skill to supply myself with arrows.

The skill takes 500g to acquire, but after that it's just a matter of making arrows (and bows) for skill gains. After you've obtained the crafting skill of your choice, you must then gather the necessary tools and mats to craft.

It takes (1) iron ingot and (1) wood to craft a set of 20 arrows. This sounds simple enough, yet the "ingot" and "wood" are the refined forms of "ore" and "timber". There is a 5:2 ratio for refining these mats, so it takes 5/5 ore/timber to make 40 arrows.

Once you have gathered the mats you will need a woodcutting tool that is purchased from an NPC vendor in town for 20g. Take this tool, and your mats, and head to the nearest wood-working station. This is the same station where you refine your timber into wood.

It takes 20 seconds to craft a set of 10 arrows, so if you hit the station with 50+ in mats, you might be there awhile. This is still better than spending 1 gpu on arrows (the going rate).

My archery is now at 30 along with my polearms, parry, and 1h sword. I would like to get all these combat skills to 50+ by next weekend so I can contribute better on PvP runs. Other than skillups, it's just a matter of stocking my bank with weapons, armor, mounts, potions, and food. I can't wait till I have a stocked bank with 50+ on skills so I can start making nightly PvP runs.

Dead Elves, and Darkfall

I had a great time in Darkfall this weekend. The PvP is a blast, and believe it or not, the PvE is actually quite entertaining as well. The mobs don't just stand there until you beat them to death; they strafe, dodge, kite, etc. I've only encountered small mobs such as Goblins and NPC Dwarves, but I did see a Giant Skeleton Knight on my way to Mirdain to gank Elfs.

It was Saturday evening when a Captain from my clan announced he was gathering members in our Hamlet to venture into Elf territory for some PvP. I quickly jumped on board, but when I found out it was a mounted expedition, I opted to stay back. Well, the Captain said he had an extra mount and I offered him 200g for it, and the rest is... well I'm getting there.

So, the Captain, myself, and two Sargent's headed south towards Elf country. It took us roughly 30 minutes of riding just to get where the scenery changes, but I wasn't complaining since I think exploration is worthless in today's themepark MMOs. We ran into a couple of Alfar attacking a lone Elf and we moved in fast. The Elf made a run for it, and we decided to take out the Alfar pair instead.

I found out quickly that I need some practise with mounted combat as I kept missing when I'd ride by to strike. I did, however, get a couple of mount hits in when my pig did a back kick or two.

After dispatching the two Alfar we traveled some to the west and ended up running into a member of our Alliance going 1v1 on an Elf. We started to move in, but when we saw he had things under control we backed off, but stayed near in case he needed any help.

After moving on we received a tell from the Alliance member we had just ran into mentioning a couple of Elf miners he had located. We moved towards his location, but by the time we arrived, he was dead, and there was 5-10 Elfs pelting us with arrows.

We tried to retreat, but we lost one of the Sargent's and his mount. After that, the three of us continued a little longer and encountered another pait of Alfar. This pair was able to take out our Captains' mount, but we took them out quickly after. At that point we called it a night and recalled back to our bindstone.

I can't wait to get my skills up to par, and start gathering armor / potion sets for PvP like I had back in Ultima Online. I am glad our Clan usually has something going on nightly, and there's always someone near our Hamlet ready to hunt. An important aspect of a game like this, or EvE, is finding the right group of people to play with, and I believe my new Clan is just that.

Darkfall Postcards

"Your Darkfall Online Purchase Skill has increased by 0.1%"

I could have been playing since Monday actually, but I never checked my email since it looked as if my purchase timed-out and the game had sold out in 4 minutes. Well, I checked my email late Wednesday night and saw a confirmation of purchase; I then tried to log on the game and BAM... I'm in!

I created a male Mahirim and entered the world. The excessive shadows from the surrounding foliage almost killed my graphics card, but I quickly adjusted the video settings as most people do their first time in a game and everything was fine. I'm located in Texas and I was receiving a generous 150-170 ping with spikes into the 190's.The interface takes some getting used to, but after an hour it was definitely second nature. I did however reset my sheath weapon to my back mouse button and my "use" key from F over to the forward mouse button.

I took the first quest to kill some Goblins and acquire 5 axes; after a short run to the north I was engaged in combat with not one, but 3 goblins. I quickly retreated and waited for my buddy from work to show up (he just popped on vent and was logging on Darkfall).With both of us we had an easy, but still challenging time taking out the Goblins. We immediately traded in our starting wep (Dagger) for a polearm. This is a must since the daggers range is ridiculous.

We were taking turns making bank runs during our Goblin genocide; during one of my runs to the bank I hear my buddy on vent say and Ork just attacked and killed him. Well, I was almost back, so I sprinted to the location in time to see the Ork execute (a skill called "Gank") my friend.I drew my polearm and charged with a passion I haven't felt since the days of Ultima Online PvP. I was only a few hours old and didn't have much as far as skills, but I held my own and ALMOST killed the, now red after killing my buddy, Ork.

The funny part is another Mahirim sat there and watched the fight without helping either, then after the Ork had his victory, the spectator Mahirim finished the Ork and proceeded to loot all three of us, hehe. To the passive goes the spoils? =P

Anyways, now it's time to find a clan to join and help grow! I'm going to hit up Syncaine's clan since his commentary on PvP falls right in-line with my ideals.

Hope to see you all in the game, and if you haven't bought it yet, what are you waiting for!?

Darkfall Online

I know I said I'm "taking a break", and that is true in the sense I'm not playing WoW anymore, and I only log into EvE to set training, but after reading about Darkfall Online since 2005, and it's now released...

I have read enough to know I am going to spend the next 5 years of my life PK'ing people en'mass in Darkfall! I have yearned for the days of Ultima Online, and it seems current MMOs have nothing but profit margins in mind and aim their titles towards soccer moms and mentally challenged earmuff people.

I respect the limited release, but damn, I wish I could get in there cause I'm one of the people that WILL be staying! I have the game client downloaded, and my CC info saved and ready to purchase as soon as more copies become available.

I'm currently prepping for the game by reading all PvP strats, and any general info I can get on the game; however, I have yet to find a clan to join. I am looking for a clan with Orks and Furries as I plan to be howling at people when I decapitate them. I know it goes without saying, but the clan must be PvP focused (it's Darkfall, durr). If anyone knows any clans looking for a quality old school PvP'er, then please let me know who to contact.

Thanks,
Heineken - UO - Chesapeake 1996-2000

Break Time

I'm taking Trigonometry in college and after my first two test I have an 83.5 in the class. This is unacceptable, so I'm taking a break from gaming until I can bring that back up and hopefully end with an A

I will start gaming / blogging after this class since the classes I have left won't be a problem.

Thank you for understanding!

Keystone / Placebo / Civic

Complaining Gets You Nowhere!!

I'm waiting for family and friends to catch up to me on my gnome mage, but they're taking their time for various reasons. I don't mind the wait since I get to do BGs (30-39), and that's my favorite part of the game.

I've noticed that when the match is going in favor of the Horde, the Alliance tends to start name calling and bitching and moaning about people not knowing what to do. I'm some-what guilty of this behavior in my early days of WoW, but I've matured a little bit since then.

I recently started taking it upon myself to correct people's mistakes with a tone of humility, and surprisingly enough most of the time the person just didn't know that aspect of the game. I believe that more amateur gamers play on the Alliance side, and that is the reason for the Horde winning the majority of BGs.

So, it's not a fact of these people knowing what to do and screwing up, but rather not knowing what to do in the first place. WoW suffers already from lack of accountability, as there's not much you can do for a player being a tard and messing up, or screwing you over. If this can be overcome and we hold each other accountable for our actions (after we've been taught), then improvements will be made.

For this reason, I've also started calling people out, myself included, for making mistakes. These are players that I see all the time and I know they're aware of the correct action for that situation. This also must be done with a sense of humility, otherwise the message is lost and arguments erupt.

My point is, the next time you see someone screwing up in BGs, try explaining to that person where they messed up before calling them names. If they mess up after that, then call them out in a polite manner.

Keep in mind that success must be called out too for the balance to be in place. So while it's good to call out mistakes, it does nothing if you never call people out for success also.

I've been trying these tactics over the past few weeks, and my win percentage has gone up.
Try it, and tell me your results.

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Message to Twinks

I was in WSG on my level 71 druid the other night when it looked like our team was going to get steam rolled, so I stealth past all the Horde holding us at the graveyard. I ended up getting the flag and almost making it back before I died.

I therefore tried again, and this time made it a little further; this try was followed by a third attempt. Each try I announced my location and planned trip to return the flag in hopes I would receive some form of aide. I had even requested someone with more HP to come get the flag and I would heal them.

Well, our team just sat there at the graveyard and ran single-file into their death down below the graveyard cliff.

We obviously ended up losing that battle, but I wouldn't let it keep me down. I joined up again and tried the same tactic from the start. I asked for some help in returning the flag, but the response I got was, "Why are you trying to run the flag with your crappy HP".

I replied with a, "then come get it from me, so that I may heal you along the way back".

Well this sparked an argument between twinks, and the people there just for fun and trying to win the game.

I've played WoW since the day it was release, save my recent absence, and I understand better than anyone the importance of gear in PvP; however, I have also played more MMO's than most and understand basics concepts of PvP and individual skill.

A player with lower-than-normal HP for his battleground might look worthless at first, but if you immediately point that out without even letting this person prove their worth, then you have already seceded defeat before the game has started.

Now, granted this person had no way of knowing my flag running skills, but to just dismiss someone as such is, well, retarded.

I could have gotten into a e-peen contest with this person and cited my 1900+ arena team rating during Season 2, but what would that have done.

So here's my message to twinks...

Instead of filling your head with min / max stats and figures, why not try using some managerial leadership skills and put everyone in the correct seat on the bus. If you have a low HP person, then tell them to just heal, or stay on defense. Make use of them in some way, but don't discredit them for being there and therefore forfeit any help that person may have given the team.

If you want to be a solo-god, then go PUG in Counter-strike, that is no mentality for World of Warcraft Battlegrounds!

*sigh* I wish some of these wow PvP kiddies could have played the harsh days of Siege Perilous on Ultima Online, or even Darktide on Asheron's Call, but I digress... No Risk = Cocky Attitudes.

I come from a humbler time in PvP where you cherished any help you received; people banded together because they knew if they didn't they would be dog food to those that did, and all the gear, items, and gold they were caring were lost!

**Civic staggers away mumbling about walking uphill both ways in the snow**

Back on The Wagon

I know it has been a long time since my last post, so I have some explaining to do =P

Well, it all started during the Christmas break when my nephew came to visit and brought his computer and WoW with him. I don't know what it was about seeing it played again -- I played it 3 years before quitting -- but the nostalgia got to me. I went out and purchased WoTLK.

I had to create a new character since I don't have my old account. (don't ask =P)
I had to try some new name selections, as my old name was taken. I ended up with a gnome mage named Civic (I'm surprised it wasn't taken already).

I decided to actually work my professions this time, and raid more too. I took mining / engineering for the PvP possibilities, and of course the secondary professions Cooking, Fishing, and First Aide. I'm now level 22 and all 5 professions are 100+.

I haven't experienced much of the WoTLK content as I'm still leveling up my new character, but I have to say the added individualism presented through inscription is awesome! I think I spent too long in the 10-19 WSG casting Polymorph: Penguin (minor glyph).

So that is what I've been up to. I still have my EvE account set for training Cruiser V (20 days), but other than skill training, I've been spending most of my game time in WoW.

Well, that's all I've been up to, but I do have a rant about the attitude found in Battlegrounds, but that's to come later. I just wanted to give an update and let all two of my readers know that I'm still alive =P