Mandatory DING post

DING 80!

There. Now that has been done -against my expectations!- the next step is confusing me.

You see, the current situation with Laiskajaakko, Protection Warrior, lv80 is such that the stats do not support heroics in any way: defence 465, armor 18k and hit points 18k. Now the uncrittable defence is 540, so there is a long way to that (ok, maybe not that long, maybe just change the greens to blues... even), and the 'required' or 'expected' hp to begin with is around 22k (which is not too far either, but still seems unattainable).

Lacking in these is a hindrance for my advancement in the end game content, mainly due to the fact that the server is downright top heavy. Well, which server wouldn't be these days, as the levelling is so fast and easy. But the server I'm playing in is very, very top heavy from the player experience, too: being one of the first generation servers, the 'oldest' playerbase comes from the time of launch. Some even preceding that. So the 'normal' content is pretty much skipped and the levelled alts are miraculously ushered through friendly grouping.

This is my paranoid view of the situation.

So what is my plan? To run as much reputation on Wyrmrest, Kirin Tor and others to gain at least reasonably presentable gear, while questing the world away and looking for group to normal instances. In short, gear up to the minimum for tanking: uncrittable and reasonable +stam.

Another thing which caught my eye the other day was a blogpost (which I forgot to bookmark again... or then the idea hit after skipping the post...): people are rather levelling the dps classes instead of the tanking classes because the dps isn't responsible for anything in a group. The tank is responsible of keeping the mobs hitting him like there was no tomorrow, and the healer is responsible for keeping everyone alive - starting from the tank, naturally. But the dps' are free as the birds from these refrains: they just try to deliver as much damage to the mob as possible, complaining about the tank not being able to keep the aggro and healer for not healing them properly. All the while they are not the ones calling the shots nor taking the responsibility of the group advancement.

And now, for the first time I've noticed the lack of tank classes in the game: at the cap. LFM tank and healer seems to be the call in the trade channel. Had I missed them earlier or did they just increase I capped?

Now I will never know...

Doing what they are best in doing

WoW's next expansion  has been written about here and there (and their cousins), but I still decided to put my spoon into the mix. Cuppy wrote about how Blizzard finally is breaking the mold of taking parts from other games and polishing them in their own mix. In her words:

Finally, we can see Blizzard use their gigantic budget for something experimental, new, and exciting – an old world revamp.  It’s ballsy, it’s gutsy, and I cannot freaking wait to see what happens to the Azeroth that I love.

In a sense that's true, but then again isn't that exactly what Blizzard is best in doing? Taking parts and ideas from other games and making something polished in their own? How come SOE's disastrous attempt on doing the exact same in EQ2 comes to my mind in such a vivid imagery?

Because the idea is the same: the same world but after cataclysmic changes. Where SOE made a sequel to their former best seller (EQ), Blizzard is doing exactly the same by bringing the sequel of their best seller into the game itself! If you ask me, I think Cataclysm is the secret MMO project as it changes the ruleset and updates the game to the current standards. Well, more or less.

It's like in old Pen and Paper RPG's, when Advanced Dungeons and Dragons was upgraded from ruleset 3.5 to the current d20 set: the game stayed the same, the rules just got upgraded. It is a sequel, yes, but within the same world and generic ruleset.

The rest of the expansion is full of copy-polish-paste. Guild experience comes from EQ2, which has the best guild system currently in use (ok, the only I have tested so far). Worgen satisfy the need to play 'dark and sinister' race on the Alliance side: somehow I see this as a counter (or reactive) solution to the possible World of Darkness MMO by CCP. Also the kind of Victorian era is a bit missing from the MMO scene, if you think of it, so there must be some need to expand that way, too.

There has been discussion in this blog also from the beginning how the Old World is void and empty, and even some bloggers have suggested earlier that the Old World could be wiped. Well, Blizzard listened to that and does it.

But can someone explain to me why Northrend isn't affected by the rise of Deathwing? After all, it's shores are at least as near to the upheaval as Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor...

Do we see a recurring cycle of expansions?

Who would have thought...

...that Tobold and Gevlon could be the same person? At least according to the revelation Tobold made this morning...

I'm still waiting for the final post on Greedy Goblin to believe. Still, this only reminds on how easy it is to fool people in the net, how easy it is to get face value in the 'public' eye and how easy it is to build a successfull blog by just being controversial. You don't even have to resort to the fool proof 8 step guide Syncaine put up... though that is easier and more repeatable.

Now what I'd like to know how much bull Tobold has told us as Gevlon if this was true? Is the money there, are the money making things real, are the apprentices really existing and whether he really is the sociopath in real life rather than the mild tempered 40+ scientist he claims? I know for sure Gevlon has left some bad blood around the 'net with his (IMO misintepreted) postings about certain blogposts of other bloggers, so I'm kind of waiting for some sort of apologetic verse in the final post.

Then again, I would like to see the sociopathic rantings on his blog from time to time: the controversial issues Gevlon postes usually hit right on the spot, even though the presentation usually is not quite the best possible. Also the more aggressive and straightforward way of presenting the contradictory thoughts is quite refreshing from time to time, and -if nothing else- causes people to think about the issue at hand. That is proven by the multitude of blogpost responses around the blogosphere (at least in the 60+ blogs I have on my reader...)

So be carefull on what you take as fact and on it's face value. Always take things with a little bit of caution.

That helps to filter the crap and not make it personal. After all, it's all a big show. This thing called Blogosphere.

EDIT: Like I said, I will not believe it until I see that post on Greedy Goblin. Gevlon's latest post has just gotten a new PS., stating that:

PS4: Tobold is being very funny today. My comment on the topic is this, and no more, all comments on my blog about Tobold's joke/experiment will be deleted.

So the plot thickens and we'll see what comes out of this. If this is just a prank from Tobold's side, his credibility is completely lost. If not, he has some work to do to gain his 'reputable' reputation back.

EDIT #2: Tobold came out of the closet and admitted that he is him and Gevlon is Gevlon. This being said I'm afraid that what I said about credibility will hold true for most of his former devoted readers. His mailbox will most probably be flooded with comments which he has to delete due to flamewar content.

Too bad, it would have been a great hoax as such. But then again, Tobold got the same message out with this one as he would have gotten with the twin-identity: use your own discredition and thinking when you are reading and evaluating the writings/posts/texts in the internet.

Best experience so far

Tobold wrote an excellent series on Why do we play?, and I actually had an idea about writing my own experiences on playing MMO's and some thoughts about the reasons why I play. Somehow this got pushed back until I saw Azariel's comment on my earlier post, and I knew I had to write this piece.

I play the game with very open mind and open eyes, slightly tending to play on the role-playing side more than min-maxing: the latter comes from learning to cope with the mobs I encounter more than from reading guides and commentary. Naturally the requirements of the game are nowadays such that you have to know your stats and the gear to make the most of it. That is due to change, thankfully, at Cataclysm, but that's still at least 1.5 years in the future.

I also seek to group whenever I play. This leads to the solo-feasts like last weekend when I levelled from lv76 to lv78 with Laiskajaakko, without getting a single group invite during the 7-8 hours online. The only real grouping so far is when the Three Stooges (me and my brothers) come online simultaneously and tackle some lower level content as a trio.

The best experience as such has been the recent run in Auchindoun. Not because it was increasing in difficulty for the three of us, nor because the beginning (Mana Tombs) was completely a pushover, but because we had to learn the bosses in the Shadow Labyrinth. We wiped time and again to come up with a working solution to certain bosses and at the end of the day we all thought that this was the way we enjoy the game the most.

Having a challenge from the game, which we can overcome with persistence and thinking. The challenge in the Shadow Labyrinth was just about in line with our measly troupe (Tank lv76, Priest lv76 and Rogue lv72): it wasn't too hard to cope with (we lack DPS) and it didn't feel impossible at any time.

And the bosses finally start showing some aspects in their combat performance you really have to pay attention to.

This being said, I'm looking forward to the rest of the Outlands instances we're about to engage as the Three Stooges. Even more than the end game instances Laiskajaakko is about to engage soon.

Why?

Because with Three Stooges we can learn the encounters, communicate effectively and co-operate with each other constantly. Something a PUG or farm raid will be severely lacking, I know.

A sad, almost degrading, visit

Last night I had the pleasure to accompany some of our guilds finest in a 'raid' like event. As it happens, Lady Onyxia is being revamped soon, so the guild decided to pay some last respects to the original wipefest.

It was a very sad occasion. Hilariously sad, almost degrading experience, I would have to say.

Because there were only 15 of us, lowest being my warrior (lv78) and the rest capped, Ulduar working veterans.

Onyxia was down before I even understood what was happening. People had to activate the whole swarms of the Whelps to get some action going, though all the AOE in the group was just overwhelmingly over powered against anything in there.

In a way, I can see why the content needs revamping. The veterans -players who have been around since first beta or launch- still remember these encounters with fondness, but to see them in this state, forgotten and weakened by added levels, just makes the memories taste stale.

The content should be experienced around the level range it was meant to be, or the group size should be controlled to make the challenge a real one (like our Auchindoun rampage). This way it would be in the correct scope for the experience and everyone could see/feel/smell the event firsthand.

Because of this, I don't want to pursue higher level visits to other Old World end game instances. Of course I will accompany in such a trip if the opportunity rises, but I'm not deliberately seeking for such.

The saddest part for me is the fact that I have lost the opportunity to experience these instances due to the fact I started the game so late. In fact, I've lost the opportunity to experience the Burning Crusade's end game, too, and with this speed I'm levelling and advancing, I will be too poorly geared and experienced to get into the current end game, too. I don't want to be a leech in a group, I want to contribute: without experience the latter is neigh impossible.

This may be one reason why I'm looking forward to the Cataclysm. Then the table is turned and everyone starts from the same spot.

Everything will be new to everyone.