Things to Come

New things are on the horizon again from the Blizzard, as they prepare to launch their next patch, 3.2. Some of them are good things and some of them rather depressing. I have always been an enthusiast for the Argent Tournament and for me, the news is exciting; they are finally completing the coliseum at the tournament grounds:

"In order to prepare for a siege on Icecrown Citadel, players will be called by the Argent Crusade to test their mettle in the Coliseum. 5-player, 10-player, and 25-player challenges await inside."

What are the "challenges" that they are talking about, it is hard to say. It could be a new instance or a ring of blood type of battle. Personally I hope it is a new raid instance because we still lack a good middle ground for raids. Ulduar was a great addition but lets face it, startup raiders will not be able to do it for some time and you cannot really call VoA and OS as raids - at least with a straight face. In the end we only have Naxxramas that is actually a real dungeon and many people, me included, would hope for more variety.

One might also make the case that we should soon also see a benefit to our reputation with the Silver Covenant faction. As for the moment, it is neigh useless but yet we still receive a health amount of reputation with them from various quests, including specifically the Argent Tournament dailies.

Another most welcome upgrade will be for the druids who are, finally, getting new skins to both their cat and bear forms. The skin will vary between races, so night elves and taurens for example, will look distinctively different. I am willing to wager half the druid population are extatic about this changes, as it is a rare player who isn't tired of watching the same, giant bear ass day after damn day.

One update that the world of player is in an uproar is the nerf that is being targetted at the jewelcrafters; as of 3.2, the dragon's eye gems will no longer be considered prismatic. This is a pretty major set back because that is one of the main benefits of using those gems. The main reason for the uproar is that so many gear sets in the game seem poorly designed when considering colored sockets.

As a personal example, my current dps gear set has literally 5-6 blue sockets, with one yellow and two red sockets. Anyone is free to explain to me in what world it makes any sense to have blue sockets in dps gear, because it bewilders me. The good news is, the patch has not even hit PTR yet so a lot of things are subject to change. So, if the gems are being nerfed, hopefully they can find a way around the socket issue.

It's just a Game

World of Warcraft is best when played in teams, with other people, there is no denying that. However, the longer you play the game the more it seems that there are a lot of variables that, in fact, play against that notion. I have experienced it time, and time again, and reading on other blogs and news sites, it seems evident that I am not the only one who feels this.

It is easy enough, if you have a close friend who you do lots of things together, to fit a schedule between the two of you and get on to play WoW. Questing is best and most fun in pairs, preferrably over voice chat or even better, between family members when you can actually play in the same room with someone. Then again, if you try to exceed that number, you run into trouble.

Who has not tried to put together a regular dungeon group? To go off and play regular dungeons and get the best gear as you level your characters. I can tell you, it's awesome fun, when it works but most of the time it does not. Fitting 3-5 people into one schedule seems like an impossible task, even for a shorter period of time and for myself, it seems puzzling; why is it so hard?

After all, we can easily schedule a movie night, with 4+ people meet downtown, no matter on what walks of life we come from. Or go out to a pub for a drink or whatever we call outdoor social activities. But in WoW, no. Just no. It seems anything and everything can come before a game of WoW and while it is easy to dismiss that by saying "well hell, it's just a game."

But is it just a game? I like to think of it more like a hobby. Like going to karate, playing tennis or football, or collecting stamps or butterflies. When you make that transition of attitude, everything changes. As long as it is just a "stupid game" it is easy to dismiss. When you think of it as a hobby where other people depend on your keeping your word on showing up, it is suddenly a whole different story and I believe this is the biggest problem in the warcraft sphere at the moment.

I dare anyone to step into the boots of a raid leader, even if it's inside your own local, casual guild, and try put together raids, or heroic dungeons runs, or any dungeon runs. Look people up, talk to them, invite and set schedules. It is such a drag it feels like hips deep in a stinky marshland. Not only will you begin to stumble just trying to get all five people on a same time of day, 1-2 will easily later come and tell you how sorry they are but they have to brush their cats or go do something or other - and that's if you're lucky. Some will just simply blow you off and later boldfacely lie why they weren't there.

In the end you cannot take it anymore and you cancel what could have been so much fun and beneficial for everyone. Worse, soon some genius from your guild will come nag on you why won't the officer's setup regular heroic runs, "it would be so much fun, wouldn't it?"

Aye, as much fun as sticking needles into your eyes...

Role vs Class

There is always a lot of talk in warcraft about the pros and cons of the various classes. Naturally divisions form, where one prefer certain classes while another enjoys going for others. This is one of the things that makes world of warcraft so great, its diversity and ability to provide everyone with something. You can specialize even further inside a single class; to perhaps go either fire or frost spec with a mage, or heal as a holy or discipline priest.

However, I often feel people put too much emphazise on these elements. Of course you should enjoy what you play but the problem is, many take this too far, bordering on hatemongering when they encounter someone who plays a class that does not enjoy their favor. Nothing is more infamous, in this aspect, than the death knight. The sad reality is that there are just too many of us around, because although the other classes are played with equal ferver, everyone usually has at least one death knight character.

When I made mine and began to level him up, I was shocked by the fact that in Outlands, Helfire Penensula, I could not get a simple dungeon group together because 80% of all players in the zone at any one time, were bloody death knights. This has now advanced to a point where it is hard, even for someone who knows the class, is well geared, to find themselves a spot in a raiding guild. Many guilds do not even bother to recruite them, simply brushing you off when you approuch them.

I have to admit, this has been a big frustration for me personally, because I know how to play my death knight and I know I do it well enough to not deserve this kind of treatment. And really, in the end, is it truly up to the class you play? I have wondered and the more I think about it, the more I believe it plays a very small part in the scheme of things.

Let me explain, often you come across people who are trashing their frustration out from whatever recent (or long gone) patch that nerfed their class. Priests got the cane in 3.1 and mages are one that many veteran players, from back of the day, talk about. For a holy priest for example, the last nerf was quite a blow because we (yes I play one) rely heavily on mana regeneration. pre-3.1 it was often literally impossible for us to run out of mana in a dungeon, but now, it has come down by 40%.

But so what? Does not mean that the holy priest is dead. If it bothers you so much, move to discipline priest and throw your care for mana regeneration into the wind. In the end, it all comes down to how well you fill the role that you chose; dps, tank, or healer. Some situations are more challenging, like e.g. tanking Anub'rekhan vs tanking Loatheb or healing a death knight vs paladin tanks. I have always felt that too many look for the ideal circumstances as the only way to get it done.

But sadly things are rarely ideal in life and we must simply triumphant against the odds sometimes. And here is the real core of matters for me. When people tell me it cannot be done, or should not be done, with whatever circumstances, I want slap them and first chance I get, proove them wrong. Winning when the odds are in your favor is easy. Being victorious before adversity takes character.

And this is what I tell people who try to convince me; it is not about the class or spec you play, it is how and the skill you play it with.