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What do Rogues & Noobs have in common...?
...they both pick locks!
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Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
New Arena Team
I started my first Arena team this weekend; my brother asked me to since he wants some of the gear you get from cashing in Arena points - who am I kidding, I want them too! ^^
I talked him into respeccing Frost for Arenas since he was dieing too fast with his Arcane spec. So there we are, two Frost Mages in Arenas. Well, my brother is a late bloomer into PC gaming, and he has no twitch skills whatsoever, so no kiting for him.
This turns out to be a problem, since as a Mage you have to know how to kite. I'm going to try and teach him some more as we go along. We ended the night with 9 wins - 20 losses (ouch). I'd say 7 of those 9 wins I was able to kill the other two players by myself. I'm hoping that if my brother continues to see how I use the Frost spec, then he might get better with it over time.
I remember when I ditched the "3-minute mage" spec for Frost it took a long time to change my play-style. We've decided to run BGs and some practice Arena rounds before going back in for the real deal, this should allow him ample time to get the hang of Frost.
If anyone would like to keep up with the Arena team the name is "The Frozen Core", a name I now regret since I'm about to add a Druid & Rogue to the team. I knew I should have went with "The A-Team" - my favorite childhood sitcom!
I talked him into respeccing Frost for Arenas since he was dieing too fast with his Arcane spec. So there we are, two Frost Mages in Arenas. Well, my brother is a late bloomer into PC gaming, and he has no twitch skills whatsoever, so no kiting for him.
This turns out to be a problem, since as a Mage you have to know how to kite. I'm going to try and teach him some more as we go along. We ended the night with 9 wins - 20 losses (ouch). I'd say 7 of those 9 wins I was able to kill the other two players by myself. I'm hoping that if my brother continues to see how I use the Frost spec, then he might get better with it over time.
I remember when I ditched the "3-minute mage" spec for Frost it took a long time to change my play-style. We've decided to run BGs and some practice Arena rounds before going back in for the real deal, this should allow him ample time to get the hang of Frost.
If anyone would like to keep up with the Arena team the name is "The Frozen Core", a name I now regret since I'm about to add a Druid & Rogue to the team. I knew I should have went with "The A-Team" - my favorite childhood sitcom!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Gear: The Only Displayed Accomplishment?
Last night a friend of mine said in Ventrilo that he was bored of WoW. This person has only played WoW for 2 months and has already dinged 70 on his first and only character, a Shadow Priest. This is the type of guy that will *NOT* roll an alt to check out other classes, he hates leveling.
He is discouraged about BG's because he's always targeted first, and usually goes down fast. Arenas would solve some of the BG dilemma, but his teammates are always raiding.
The last MMO this person played was Ultima Online, and he said something that struck me. He said, "There's nothing to do in this game after level 70, it's all about getting better gear".
Playing Ultima Online myself, along with *many* other MMO's in-between, I know where he is coming from. Too understand this on a high-level only, I think it can be boiled down to one word, accomplishments.
People like accomplishments, and like showing off their achievements even more. In World of Warcraft your only displayed accomplishment is your gear, therefore all game-play is centered around achieving gear in one shape or another.
Since I mentioned Ultima Online, it will be our comparison for this discussion. In the world of Ultima Online there were many displayed achievements that could be seen by peers throughout the world. I will list some below... (I'm not comparing which game is better, or advocating UO, but instead showing other means of achievements found in MMO's)
1. Veteran Rewards - This is a simple idea that shows a players age in the world, and the rewards were things that could be seen by other characters, such as special mounts.
2. Titles - Ultima Online had titles based off fame and karma. Your fame increased by the amount of monsters you killed, and your karma increased / decreased by your actions in the game, such as attacking another player.
3. Houses - I've never seen more unique player designs in a game than found in player created houses. Not only can players design their own home with walls, floors, & roofs, but they can decorate the inside as well to add even more customization.
4. Rare Items (not gear) - In World of Warcraft a "hard-to-get" item would be an epic piece of armor that would only be displayed on your character. In Ultima Online, you could also acquire rare items that were displayed in your home. The rare items offered no statistical bonus, but allowed players to display their achievements.
5. Character Customization - It's obvious that if you're not wearing a matching armor set in WoW, then chances are you look like a clown. In Ultima Online you could dye any piece of clothing to cover your armor. On top of that, you could purchase a special "neon" hair dye from a vendor for 500k, a substantial amount of gold at the time. The neon hair allowed players to display their "achievement" of 500k gold by dying their hair a special color.
6. Vendors - I know the auction house is a great idea, and adds to WoW's awesome accessibility, but it lacks the ability for a player to display achievements. In Ultima Online you could set your house to public and place vendors. This allowed some players to create grand shops known server-wide and were a great sign of accomplishment.
7. Crafting - World of Warcraft sort-of has this feature, but not to the extent of Ultima Online (and especially Star Wars Galaxies for that matter). In both games your name is attached to created items, but without a vendor option, there's not much notoriety on the items you create in WoW.
8. Guild Wars - (no this isn't referring to the game) In Ultima Online you could declare war on other guilds, this allowed achievements to players by defeating another guild on your server. The achievement was displayed through word-of-mouth, but it was still exhilarating to be in the winning guild in a war.
These are just some examples of accomplishments, other than gear, that can be displayed to peers in an online world. Looking at recent titles, such as LOTRO, you find "displayed accomplishments" are very popular. LOTRO has a simple "Titles" feature that allows players to earn a plethora of titles, some statistically advantageous, some just for show.
The reason the raiding feature in WoW was so popular pre-BC was because it was the only way to acquire a "displayed achievement" in World of Warcraft. I would like to see WoW, and other upcoming releases to learn from LOTRO and games before it that provided various means to display multitudes of achievements found throughout the game.
~Keystone
He is discouraged about BG's because he's always targeted first, and usually goes down fast. Arenas would solve some of the BG dilemma, but his teammates are always raiding.
The last MMO this person played was Ultima Online, and he said something that struck me. He said, "There's nothing to do in this game after level 70, it's all about getting better gear".
Playing Ultima Online myself, along with *many* other MMO's in-between, I know where he is coming from. Too understand this on a high-level only, I think it can be boiled down to one word, accomplishments.
People like accomplishments, and like showing off their achievements even more. In World of Warcraft your only displayed accomplishment is your gear, therefore all game-play is centered around achieving gear in one shape or another.
Since I mentioned Ultima Online, it will be our comparison for this discussion. In the world of Ultima Online there were many displayed achievements that could be seen by peers throughout the world. I will list some below... (I'm not comparing which game is better, or advocating UO, but instead showing other means of achievements found in MMO's)
1. Veteran Rewards - This is a simple idea that shows a players age in the world, and the rewards were things that could be seen by other characters, such as special mounts.
2. Titles - Ultima Online had titles based off fame and karma. Your fame increased by the amount of monsters you killed, and your karma increased / decreased by your actions in the game, such as attacking another player.
3. Houses - I've never seen more unique player designs in a game than found in player created houses. Not only can players design their own home with walls, floors, & roofs, but they can decorate the inside as well to add even more customization.
4. Rare Items (not gear) - In World of Warcraft a "hard-to-get" item would be an epic piece of armor that would only be displayed on your character. In Ultima Online, you could also acquire rare items that were displayed in your home. The rare items offered no statistical bonus, but allowed players to display their achievements.
5. Character Customization - It's obvious that if you're not wearing a matching armor set in WoW, then chances are you look like a clown. In Ultima Online you could dye any piece of clothing to cover your armor. On top of that, you could purchase a special "neon" hair dye from a vendor for 500k, a substantial amount of gold at the time. The neon hair allowed players to display their "achievement" of 500k gold by dying their hair a special color.
6. Vendors - I know the auction house is a great idea, and adds to WoW's awesome accessibility, but it lacks the ability for a player to display achievements. In Ultima Online you could set your house to public and place vendors. This allowed some players to create grand shops known server-wide and were a great sign of accomplishment.
7. Crafting - World of Warcraft sort-of has this feature, but not to the extent of Ultima Online (and especially Star Wars Galaxies for that matter). In both games your name is attached to created items, but without a vendor option, there's not much notoriety on the items you create in WoW.
8. Guild Wars - (no this isn't referring to the game) In Ultima Online you could declare war on other guilds, this allowed achievements to players by defeating another guild on your server. The achievement was displayed through word-of-mouth, but it was still exhilarating to be in the winning guild in a war.
These are just some examples of accomplishments, other than gear, that can be displayed to peers in an online world. Looking at recent titles, such as LOTRO, you find "displayed accomplishments" are very popular. LOTRO has a simple "Titles" feature that allows players to earn a plethora of titles, some statistically advantageous, some just for show.
The reason the raiding feature in WoW was so popular pre-BC was because it was the only way to acquire a "displayed achievement" in World of Warcraft. I would like to see WoW, and other upcoming releases to learn from LOTRO and games before it that provided various means to display multitudes of achievements found throughout the game.
~Keystone
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Long Weekend
I had a three day weekend due to Memorial Day, so I had planned to play WoW for the entire weekend, but that didn't go so well.
My dog of 10 years died Saturday morning, and my nephew that was visiting severely clogged the toilet in my new home. So between digging a hole in my back yard, funeral services, & pretending I was a plumber... I didn't get much WoW time.
I did play some, and it was mostly running people through VC on my level 60 Protection Paladin. I also convinced my brother to respec Frost on his level 70 Human Mage. We dueled immediately afterwards, and he came closer to beating me than he ever has, so he was hooked.
I have decided not to pursue Tailoring, since I can get decent gear from PvP. I know the gear won't be as good as raiding gear, but it has enough Stamina & Resilience to be competitive against other players.
I plan to run AB with a pre-made tonight, but getting my plumbing fixed so I can shower is #1 on my priority list at the movement. I'll update tomorrow if I get in WoW time in tonight, cross your fingers! ^^
My dog of 10 years died Saturday morning, and my nephew that was visiting severely clogged the toilet in my new home. So between digging a hole in my back yard, funeral services, & pretending I was a plumber... I didn't get much WoW time.
I did play some, and it was mostly running people through VC on my level 60 Protection Paladin. I also convinced my brother to respec Frost on his level 70 Human Mage. We dueled immediately afterwards, and he came closer to beating me than he ever has, so he was hooked.
I have decided not to pursue Tailoring, since I can get decent gear from PvP. I know the gear won't be as good as raiding gear, but it has enough Stamina & Resilience to be competitive against other players.
I plan to run AB with a pre-made tonight, but getting my plumbing fixed so I can shower is #1 on my priority list at the movement. I'll update tomorrow if I get in WoW time in tonight, cross your fingers! ^^
Friday, May 25, 2007
Thoughts...
I dueled an Arcane Fire Mage from my guild last night, and he was pretty confident he would win. I beat him the first time, and he asked for another duel, but wanted to wait for cooldowns. This was a thankful reminder of why I don't miss the Arcane Tree. I'm not saying Frost is not cooldown dependant, but I can still win fights without my Water Elemental & Ice Block.
We ended up dueling 5+ times, I lost count, but I won every duel. He said he was going to respec Frost, but I don't know if he was being facetious or not.
I noticed a cloth armor set that has the bonus of 20% extra damage to Arcane Blast. I wonder if that would be viable in any sort of PvP (keep in mind it increases the mana by 20% also).
I also dueled a Shadow Priest from the guild, and he won 2/5 duels. I notice Shadow Priest are hard to beat without Ice Block, but it's definitely do-able. I gave him some tips on beating Frost Mages when he complained about the Water Elemental, I told him to save his Fear and use it when the Water Ele spawns, since it's his only way of "locking" down the Ele.
I would like to thank Blizzard for taking another feature from the mod world, and that would be the ability to dismount by casting a spell. This is something that was long overdue, and I'm glad it's now default stuff. I wish casting a spell would cancel Ice Block, this would make Counter-Spelling a Warlock's Banish spell much easier. Warlocks ALWAYS go to Banish the Elemental right after you Ice Block, and I can usually cancel the Ice Block and Counter-Spell in time, which usually means a win. Sometimes I'm not fast enough though, maybe I need a macro! ^^
Alright, I've rambled enough. I'm now just waiting for the work email telling us to go home early for the holiday weekend! I'm going to grill out, drink beer, and play WoW all weekend! Ahh, good times! I hope everyone has a great weekend, see you all Tuesday!
We ended up dueling 5+ times, I lost count, but I won every duel. He said he was going to respec Frost, but I don't know if he was being facetious or not.
I noticed a cloth armor set that has the bonus of 20% extra damage to Arcane Blast. I wonder if that would be viable in any sort of PvP (keep in mind it increases the mana by 20% also).
I also dueled a Shadow Priest from the guild, and he won 2/5 duels. I notice Shadow Priest are hard to beat without Ice Block, but it's definitely do-able. I gave him some tips on beating Frost Mages when he complained about the Water Elemental, I told him to save his Fear and use it when the Water Ele spawns, since it's his only way of "locking" down the Ele.
I would like to thank Blizzard for taking another feature from the mod world, and that would be the ability to dismount by casting a spell. This is something that was long overdue, and I'm glad it's now default stuff. I wish casting a spell would cancel Ice Block, this would make Counter-Spelling a Warlock's Banish spell much easier. Warlocks ALWAYS go to Banish the Elemental right after you Ice Block, and I can usually cancel the Ice Block and Counter-Spell in time, which usually means a win. Sometimes I'm not fast enough though, maybe I need a macro! ^^
Alright, I've rambled enough. I'm now just waiting for the work email telling us to go home early for the holiday weekend! I'm going to grill out, drink beer, and play WoW all weekend! Ahh, good times! I hope everyone has a great weekend, see you all Tuesday!
Scryer / Aldor Rep Grind Information...
Maimed did a nice job on a Scryer / Aldor guide for gaining rep.
Please check it out...
http://llamadonk.com/
Please check it out...
http://llamadonk.com/
Arena PvP = Fun Fun Fun!
I formed an arena team with some friends the other night. The team consist of a Shadow Priest, Feral Druid, & of course me, a Frost Mage.
We decided to only run 10 matches to see how we would do. I haven't PvP'd with either of them yet, and I was unsure of specific arena tactics. I thought we would do bad, but we ended up with 8 wins / 2 losses.
I figured that wasn't a bad start. We're waiting until an off-raid night to continue, since the Druid is in one of the top raiding guilds on the server.
I've decided to PvP for gear on Keystone, since it's what I love to do anyways. As for PvE, I'm going to be leveling my Druid, which is my second favorite class. He is currently 53, so not too far to go.
I'll keep updates on the arena team, but you can always look us up... "The Pizzeria Panda Bears" on Sargeras (yes, I came up with the name, sue me ^^)
We decided to only run 10 matches to see how we would do. I haven't PvP'd with either of them yet, and I was unsure of specific arena tactics. I thought we would do bad, but we ended up with 8 wins / 2 losses.
I figured that wasn't a bad start. We're waiting until an off-raid night to continue, since the Druid is in one of the top raiding guilds on the server.
I've decided to PvP for gear on Keystone, since it's what I love to do anyways. As for PvE, I'm going to be leveling my Druid, which is my second favorite class. He is currently 53, so not too far to go.
I'll keep updates on the arena team, but you can always look us up... "The Pizzeria Panda Bears" on Sargeras (yes, I came up with the name, sue me ^^)
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
To Tailor or Not, That is the Question?
I'm contemplating dropping a profession on my level 70 Human Mage (Keystone) for Tailoring. I currently have Alchemy & Herbalism, both of which I enjoy. I am pretty much finished with raiding since I've been through that grind at 60 and I didn't enjoy the experience.
I figure there's only a few ways to get high quality gear, such as epics. The first option would be to start raiding with my guild, and my schedule won't allow for that. The second way is similar to the first, and that's by running heroics. To me it's just as time consuming as raiding, even if it's not with a large group of organized players, it's still a difficult task that requires planning and PvE effort.
The third way would be through PvP; the new arena system offers high quality equipment, and the BG equipment isn't that bad either. As the title of my blog imposes, I love to PvP. This seems the most attractive choice, but I would need to find some decent, active players for an arena team.
The last option is through Tailoring. There is a 3 piece set (BoP) that is epic quality with very nice stats. The problem is that it's only a 3 piece set, and from my search of the Internet last night I could not find any other epic quality BoP items that required Tailoring. The Spellstrike 2-piece set of head & legs can be worn by anyone since it's BoE, but it requires 350 Tailoring to receive the set bonus.
So it looks like I only miss out on 3 epics by not taking tailoring. I don't know if it's worth the grind from 0-375 for that. I would like to diversify my ways of achieving epics. Since I listed 4 methods, and the first two are out of the question, that leaves PvP & Tailoring.
Now my question to you, the readers... which skill would you drop to pick up Tailoring.... Alchemy or Herbalism?
I figure there's only a few ways to get high quality gear, such as epics. The first option would be to start raiding with my guild, and my schedule won't allow for that. The second way is similar to the first, and that's by running heroics. To me it's just as time consuming as raiding, even if it's not with a large group of organized players, it's still a difficult task that requires planning and PvE effort.
The third way would be through PvP; the new arena system offers high quality equipment, and the BG equipment isn't that bad either. As the title of my blog imposes, I love to PvP. This seems the most attractive choice, but I would need to find some decent, active players for an arena team.
The last option is through Tailoring. There is a 3 piece set (BoP) that is epic quality with very nice stats. The problem is that it's only a 3 piece set, and from my search of the Internet last night I could not find any other epic quality BoP items that required Tailoring. The Spellstrike 2-piece set of head & legs can be worn by anyone since it's BoE, but it requires 350 Tailoring to receive the set bonus.
So it looks like I only miss out on 3 epics by not taking tailoring. I don't know if it's worth the grind from 0-375 for that. I would like to diversify my ways of achieving epics. Since I listed 4 methods, and the first two are out of the question, that leaves PvP & Tailoring.
Now my question to you, the readers... which skill would you drop to pick up Tailoring.... Alchemy or Herbalism?
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