I will admit. I was madly in love with you, Chain Heal. I mean... it was so easy. How can you blame me? All I had to do was use your incredibly smart ability in Wotlk to heal a bunch of people. I would gleefully cast you again and again, and you would heal those in need. "You're injured, I'll heal you, and then bounce to you, skip you because you're at full health, and then heal this person over here," you would say. How could I not love such a wonderful spell? How could I not be sucked in to the comfort of your rejuvenating embrace?
I had such high hopes for our future in Cataclysm. I thought for sure you'd be the only one for me. But alas, I've found my love affair with you, Chain Heal, to be waning. In this Cataclysm time of non-tanks having 100k health, I'm afraid you're just not the go to spell anymore. Either the health pools are too high or your spell coefficient isn't what I thought it would be, but you simply don't heal enough for me to be completely reliant on just you anymore. But I still want to be friends.
I know you could sense it. I know you know that I started seeing other heals. That night you saw me with Healing Rain... well... it's a bit faster than you are. And I need that. I can't spend all my time on one spell anymore; I need variety. I like its ability to be cast, and then allow me to do other things while it's healing people... for me. I know it doesn't proc Tidal Waves like you do, but I still have Riptide for that too. Admittedly, Healing Rain is a bit expensive though. It's more than twice the mana that you cost. So, I can't see us going as steady as I did with you.
I guess I'm just at a stage in my life where I feel like I need more. I need more mana. I need more throughput. And I'm afraid I can't get that from you alone anymore. Now I'm sure I'll still find raid situations where I want to use you a lot. I'll probably even be able to use you and Healing Rain together to really burn through my mana. But I feel like I have so many other friends right now, and I need that. I need old friends like Greater Healing Wave and Healing Wave. I need new friends like Healing Surge. I probably even need to start relying on some of my neglected friends such as Gift of the Naaru. I'm finding that now more than ever I'm relying on my friends with longer cooldowns such as Nature's Swiftness and Mana Tide Totem.
I'm even able to branch out and see friends like Hex and Bind Elemental. I won't even go into the noticeable difference I feel when I use all of my totem friends. And oh, how much fun it is to be with Spiritwalker's Grace; it almost feels like I'm cheating when it's around and I'm flying through the air casting spells.
So, Chain Heal, as close as we once were, I'm afraid we've grown apart. We're still friends; we'll still hang out. I just need a little space so that I can enjoy my other friends as well. Thanks for understanding. I know you'll still be there for me as much as I need you; I just thought it was fair to let you know where we currently stood.
Showing posts with label Random Ramblings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random Ramblings. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Redesigning Professions
Last night, we were having a discussion in guild chat about some gems. Mainly it was a discussion about mage gems, but this topic certainly applies to all classes. Basically, it comes down to the whole discussion of what is a better stat to use. If, for example, you're a mage, everyone can agree that you need stats in +hit until capped, and then either haste or spell power (I think this changes with every patch). But as far as gear goes, Crit can be important... and I don't think Intellect has really been important since Arcane Mages in BC... your gear just generally has enough Intellect to cover stuff.
But with Cataclysm, Blizzard has already announced that they are working towards getting rid of a few stats. To be specific, they're looking to get rid of 5 stats. Attack Power, Spell Power, Armor Penetration, Defense Rating, and Mp5 are all going away (or at least, that's what they've planned). So, healers will have to get Spirit for mana regen and Intellect for Spell Power, which probably means that you can look at just how much mana a healer has to figure out their potential HPS. lol. Spell dps will need Intellect (again, looking at that mana pool), and then I guess hit and haste. All of this in an attempt to simplify gear, so people can actually tell what's an upgrade.
Now let me go on the record and say this is great. I think it's an awesome step for the game. I feel that I'm constantly consulting outside resources like Rawr to figure out if this higher ilvl item is actually an upgrade... even if they're both obviously shaman healing pieces... sometimes the lower ilvl item is better. It's all about stat allocation.
But... (and here's to the title of this post) this is really changing a lot of stuff to the game. Not only does Blizzard have to completely redo stats for all gear (which touches the professions of Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, and Tailor), but they'll also have to convert certain potions and flasks, and they'll be obliterating 5 core color gems. And with rough calculations, and not actually looking to see if all combination exist, that's something like 42 gem cuts, not including the original 5!
And now where dps Spell damage would have previously wanted red gems for spell power, they'll now want yellow for Intellect (which is also the same color for haste). Where melee dps wanted red for Attack Power, they'll still want red for Strength or Agility (depending on the class). And where healers previously wanted purple for mp5 or Spirit and Spell Power, they'll now want... green for Spirit and Intellect. Tanks will probably stay in the purple category to get Stamina and Strength/Agility for threat generation.
So... the only major change is really for spell dps. Let's look at this from another perspective. In a "standard" 10-man raid, you'll have 2-3 healers (green), 2 tanks (purple), 2-3 melee dps, including hunters (red), and 2-3 ranged dps (yellow). Maybe I'm wrong, but it really seems that they're trying to redistribute how gems are used.
And then I realized... they track this kind of stuff. Somebody pulls up a query and finds out that there's 5 million red gems compared to only 100,000 yellow gems, or whatever. And until this last patch, yellow wasn't really needed at all, but now haste is the latest thing, so yellow is useful again. They are in constant efforts to balance the economy... and gear... and different classes... And I imagine some planning meetings at Blizzard where they have the itemization guys vying for one thing, and the AH guys asking for something else, and the Profession guys wanting to make sure their babies aren't touched... Wow! There's simply a lot that goes into this game and the thinking... and we get to simply sit back andcriticize enjoy the game that we play. I don't know... there's just something really cool about that.
But with Cataclysm, Blizzard has already announced that they are working towards getting rid of a few stats. To be specific, they're looking to get rid of 5 stats. Attack Power, Spell Power, Armor Penetration, Defense Rating, and Mp5 are all going away (or at least, that's what they've planned). So, healers will have to get Spirit for mana regen and Intellect for Spell Power, which probably means that you can look at just how much mana a healer has to figure out their potential HPS. lol. Spell dps will need Intellect (again, looking at that mana pool), and then I guess hit and haste. All of this in an attempt to simplify gear, so people can actually tell what's an upgrade.
Now let me go on the record and say this is great. I think it's an awesome step for the game. I feel that I'm constantly consulting outside resources like Rawr to figure out if this higher ilvl item is actually an upgrade... even if they're both obviously shaman healing pieces... sometimes the lower ilvl item is better. It's all about stat allocation.
But... (and here's to the title of this post) this is really changing a lot of stuff to the game. Not only does Blizzard have to completely redo stats for all gear (which touches the professions of Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, and Tailor), but they'll also have to convert certain potions and flasks, and they'll be obliterating 5 core color gems. And with rough calculations, and not actually looking to see if all combination exist, that's something like 42 gem cuts, not including the original 5!
And now where dps Spell damage would have previously wanted red gems for spell power, they'll now want yellow for Intellect (which is also the same color for haste). Where melee dps wanted red for Attack Power, they'll still want red for Strength or Agility (depending on the class). And where healers previously wanted purple for mp5 or Spirit and Spell Power, they'll now want... green for Spirit and Intellect. Tanks will probably stay in the purple category to get Stamina and Strength/Agility for threat generation.
So... the only major change is really for spell dps. Let's look at this from another perspective. In a "standard" 10-man raid, you'll have 2-3 healers (green), 2 tanks (purple), 2-3 melee dps, including hunters (red), and 2-3 ranged dps (yellow). Maybe I'm wrong, but it really seems that they're trying to redistribute how gems are used.
And then I realized... they track this kind of stuff. Somebody pulls up a query and finds out that there's 5 million red gems compared to only 100,000 yellow gems, or whatever. And until this last patch, yellow wasn't really needed at all, but now haste is the latest thing, so yellow is useful again. They are in constant efforts to balance the economy... and gear... and different classes... And I imagine some planning meetings at Blizzard where they have the itemization guys vying for one thing, and the AH guys asking for something else, and the Profession guys wanting to make sure their babies aren't touched... Wow! There's simply a lot that goes into this game and the thinking... and we get to simply sit back and
Friday, November 13, 2009
Gear Rating Web Sites
I'm a little concerned about the recent trend that has come up to entirely base people's ability to play WoW on a gear score. I mean, these gear scores have been around for a really long time. I can remember in mid-BC sites like be.imba coming up and telling you everything you need to know about your toon (wrong enchants, upgradable gems, etc.). Now we have ones like Wow-Heroes and probably 15 others as well that will give a score and tell you where these people can (and can't) raid.
This was set off when earlier this week, we ran a pretty smooth 25-man PUG into Onyxia. There were only about 4 of us from the guild that wanted to do it, so we had to PUG just a few people. As we were forming the raid and getting people on Vent, a couple of people were asking what gear score was needed to join our PUG. Is such and such number high enough for my friend to come along?
Umm... I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but it's Onyxia. Get a couple of geared tanks (which were in guild) and a couple of good healers (which I am *flex* and so was another guildie or two), then you can pug a crappy healer and a whole bunch of dps. As long as everyone stays out of the deep breaths, you really don't have to worry about killing her in record speed. I'm thoroughly convinced that a group in all blues could take her down. She's not hard. She hasn't changed much in the past 4 or so years.
So, while I really appreciate all these gear-checking/rating sites, I would advise using them with caution. Even with the best gear in the world, you still have to know how to (A) do your job, and (B) avoid fires.
Furthermore... didn't Blizzard make "most" classes equal so that we can play with our friends? If one of your 15 (or so) DPS is a lame duck, it's probably okay if he dies. Especially if you get Ony to phase 3... DPS makes it go faster... that's all. Shoot, at that point, all you need is your healers and your tank. She'll die eventually.
This was set off when earlier this week, we ran a pretty smooth 25-man PUG into Onyxia. There were only about 4 of us from the guild that wanted to do it, so we had to PUG just a few people. As we were forming the raid and getting people on Vent, a couple of people were asking what gear score was needed to join our PUG. Is such and such number high enough for my friend to come along?
Umm... I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but it's Onyxia. Get a couple of geared tanks (which were in guild) and a couple of good healers (which I am *flex* and so was another guildie or two), then you can pug a crappy healer and a whole bunch of dps. As long as everyone stays out of the deep breaths, you really don't have to worry about killing her in record speed. I'm thoroughly convinced that a group in all blues could take her down. She's not hard. She hasn't changed much in the past 4 or so years.
So, while I really appreciate all these gear-checking/rating sites, I would advise using them with caution. Even with the best gear in the world, you still have to know how to (A) do your job, and (B) avoid fires.
Furthermore... didn't Blizzard make "most" classes equal so that we can play with our friends? If one of your 15 (or so) DPS is a lame duck, it's probably okay if he dies. Especially if you get Ony to phase 3... DPS makes it go faster... that's all. Shoot, at that point, all you need is your healers and your tank. She'll die eventually.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Disenchanting in 3.3
So, I was riled up and ready to rant about the whole Disenchanting in 3.3. It appeared that any group, even one without an enchanter, could disenchant items dropped in a raid or dungeon. I was prepared to explain how it even further invalidates the Enchanting profession, how it was a horrible decision, and even on my non-enchanter I understand that I may not get shards.
Then Blizzard clarified that this option will only come up if there's an enchanter in the group with the high enough skill to disenchant the item.
Oh. Okay. I guess that totally invalidates my post now.
Then Blizzard clarified that this option will only come up if there's an enchanter in the group with the high enough skill to disenchant the item.
Oh. Okay. I guess that totally invalidates my post now.
11% Drop Rate
My lack of blogging lately has mostly been due to being busy during my normal blogging hours, but also because I didn't want to turn this blog into a huge rant-fest. Well... I now have the time, and I'm going to turn this into a rant-fest.
11% Drop Rate. That's the chance that a Tooth Pick will drop from the Treat Bag. You need the Tooth Pick in order to get the achievement for That Sparkling Smile. You need that achievement in order to get the Hallowed Be Thy Name achievement. You need that achievement in order to get the What A Long Strange Trip It's Been achievement. And finally, you need that achievement in order to get the Violet Proto-Drake.
Now, for those that have been living under a rock (or simply haven't been logging in lately), you get the Treat Bags from Trick or Treating the Innkeepers during Hallow's End. Once per hour, you can Trick or Treat. They'll either give you one of those Treat Bags or you get tricked (changing you into a random critter that can't cast for about 20 seconds). So, the chance of actually getting the Tooth Pick is actually less than 11%. I don't have any data, but I'll take a stab in the dark and say 10%.
Unless you're toon's name happens to be Zanderfin. In that case, the chance of getting tricked is about 50%. And when you do get a Treat Bag, the Drop Rate of the Tooth Pick is probably closer to 0.02%. Again, no hard data to back up my guesses, but that's just my gut feeling. Who knows, maybe they even removed it from the loot table of the Treat Bag if your name is Zanderfin.
So, I've been logging in before work (5 am) and then as soon as I can in the evening to get in as many attempts as possible. I'm almost "Hallowed", execpt for the Tooth Pick. Oh how I despise the Tooth Pick. And all the Innkeepers are just as guilty. It's like one of those kind, old ladies on your block that gives out full, king-sized Snicker bars to all the other kids, but to you, she gives you a nice, shiny Penny. (Side Note: That bag is the same drop rate, and I've seen that at least 5 times.) You'd better be careful, nice, old lady. You give me enough pennies and I'm gonnna come around swinging that bag full of pennies. Now that will hurt. *smack!!* Take that you old hag Innkeeper!!!
Grrr... I still have 4 days. It could still happen.
11% Drop Rate. That's the chance that a Tooth Pick will drop from the Treat Bag. You need the Tooth Pick in order to get the achievement for That Sparkling Smile. You need that achievement in order to get the Hallowed Be Thy Name achievement. You need that achievement in order to get the What A Long Strange Trip It's Been achievement. And finally, you need that achievement in order to get the Violet Proto-Drake.
Now, for those that have been living under a rock (or simply haven't been logging in lately), you get the Treat Bags from Trick or Treating the Innkeepers during Hallow's End. Once per hour, you can Trick or Treat. They'll either give you one of those Treat Bags or you get tricked (changing you into a random critter that can't cast for about 20 seconds). So, the chance of actually getting the Tooth Pick is actually less than 11%. I don't have any data, but I'll take a stab in the dark and say 10%.
Unless you're toon's name happens to be Zanderfin. In that case, the chance of getting tricked is about 50%. And when you do get a Treat Bag, the Drop Rate of the Tooth Pick is probably closer to 0.02%. Again, no hard data to back up my guesses, but that's just my gut feeling. Who knows, maybe they even removed it from the loot table of the Treat Bag if your name is Zanderfin.
So, I've been logging in before work (5 am) and then as soon as I can in the evening to get in as many attempts as possible. I'm almost "Hallowed", execpt for the Tooth Pick. Oh how I despise the Tooth Pick. And all the Innkeepers are just as guilty. It's like one of those kind, old ladies on your block that gives out full, king-sized Snicker bars to all the other kids, but to you, she gives you a nice, shiny Penny. (Side Note: That bag is the same drop rate, and I've seen that at least 5 times.) You'd better be careful, nice, old lady. You give me enough pennies and I'm gonnna come around swinging that bag full of pennies. Now that will hurt. *smack!!* Take that you old hag Innkeeper!!!
Grrr... I still have 4 days. It could still happen.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Account Locked by Boy of 18
Just when you thought all of the stories about accounts getting hacked had slowly faded away, here comes another story of a new tactic that is out there to mess with your World of Warcraft account. So beware, and consider yourselves forewarned.It was a typical, relaxing Saturday afternoon. We had spent our Saturday attending soccer games, doing yardwork, and then recovering from those activities. I logged in to Wow and did some mining just to pass some time. Everything seemed perfectly okay with my account. Nothing was wrong at all. Plus, I have an authenticator. My account isn't in jeopardy at all, right?
Furthermore, I keep the authenticator in a specific spot on my desk. It is well out out reach of our toddler, and the older children know that this is daddy's key to his online world, and I would
So, after my farming, I was fixing some food. I noticed that I didn't put it back in THAT spot. It was just sitting there on top of the desk. To the best of my recollection, I meant to take care of it, but I didn't (or so that's how I remembered the story). But I didn't think much of it.
Not until I went to log on for our raid that night. I had been off to a meeting, come back, put the kids to bed, and was ready to log on for the night... but the authenticator was gone! It wasn't in it's spot. I replayed the events in my mind, and after retracing my steps, I knew that my 18-month old was to blame. My wife and I searched the entire house. (Big props to her for looking so hard, btw.) At one point, our oldest woke up, and we asked her about it as well, and she didn't know anything. I did log on to vent to let everybody know why I was late, and then eventually that I wasn't making the raid because of my "locked" account.
After quite some time searching, and even looking into calling Blizzard to disassociate my authenticator with my account (they're only open weekdays from 8am to 8pm FYI), I decided to give it up for the night. Hopefully I could figure out a way to coerce my 18-month old (who doesn't talk much, but can understand basic commands) to retrieve the authenticator for me.
The next morning after all the kids got up, I had this vision of the Bra
dy Bunch where everybody searches for the authenticator that "Tiger" ran away with, and "Cindy" finds it in the dog house or something. Nice thought, right? Yeah... didn't exactly happen like that, but all the kids did search... mostly. And we didn't find it.Then Sunday afternoon, I went to get dressed for church, and what fell out of my suit pants? The authenticator. So, due to my own failing memory, I had locked myself out of Wow and our raid. As a side note, I still have to make up for getting upset at my son and blaming him. But on the plus side, he's 18-months, so he didn't really get what was going on anyway. lol.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Bowling Post, Part 2
Continued from Part 1. If you didn't read it, go start there.
Now that you have all of your bowling gear. You have your own shoes, your own ball. You may even have a dedicated towel and
wrist guards because you're just that good. You're strong enough to roll the ball all the way down the alley, and you even get a strike or spare... even if only every once and awhile. You enjoy bowling so much, that you'd like to share this experience with a bunch of friends that also enjoy bowling. Or maybe you want to make new friends that will share in this new found enjoyment of yours. So, you head to your local bowling center and you sign up for a league.
(For Wow, you hit 80... and that seems to be the only basic requirement. I've seen people in full greens headed in to heroics. At any rate... however you did it, you're now in a guild.)
While your commitment to the bowling league is only 1 night per week, you're pretty hardcore. So, you also spend a lot of extra time bowling on the side, watching bowling on TV, and also researching the latest technologies. You're committed. You may even be bowling 2 nights or more per week. I think my Grandpa, at his peek was bowling about 4 nights per week.
In Wow, you generally are raiding for more than one night per week (obviously depends on the guild you're in). But even if you do only raid once per week, you're pretty hardcore, so you research gear, upgrades, min/maxing with your gems, etc. "What other achievements do I need," you may ask yourself. Or how do I get that cool pet that others have. Endless amounts of research and actual "work" are involved to have the gear to truly contribute to your raids.
Now here's one of the things that I don't get in the differences between these two "sports". If you're not going to make it on your bowling night, you generally need to get a sub. Somebody that will fill in for you, take your spot. And/or at least let your teammates know. This is generally taken into account by raiding guilds having more than the minimum number. If you're a 25-man raiding guild, you probably have at least 30 active accounts in your guild. Hey, things happen. Things like, "Gotta go, guys. Cat's in the oven again."
But if you sign up for a guild that raids say Monday through Wednesday, make it a point to be active, be online and ready to raid on those days. If you've previously spoken with your team captain (raid leader) that you can't make it on certain days, that's fine as well. Just live up to your word. Do what you've said you will. That's called integrity. :)
In the actual game, the most coveted thing you can do is bowl a perfect game. (That's a score of 300 for any of you non-bowlers out there.) Or if you've already completed that task, maybe you aim to bowl a perfect series. (That would be 3 perfect games.) These would be the achievements in Wow.
But remember, you also need your teammates to win. Even if you bowl a perfect series, sure this will help your team substantially, but if they're practicing gutter balls, I'm afraid you're not going to be winning any tournaments. (You may be going pro and making some bucks there, but you won't be winning any team leagues with your current teammates.) The same thing goes for Wow. You want to be equally yoked with your teammates. If you're the highest DPS'er in the world, but you're running with a tank that can't hold aggro... you're gonna be running around like a little girl... with her hair on fire... you get the picture. Furthermore, if you're 90% of the DPS in your 10-man raid, and something somehow happens and you die, your raid just lost a heck of a lot of DPS.
The whole point of this post, besides a lot of fun analogies is that while Wow is a game, so is bowling. And if you make a commitment to join a league, or be in an active raiding guild, do your best to live up to those commitments. But on the flip side, if you're not having fun, don't register with that team next season, but don't just stop showing up.
Now that you have all of your bowling gear. You have your own shoes, your own ball. You may even have a dedicated towel and
wrist guards because you're just that good. You're strong enough to roll the ball all the way down the alley, and you even get a strike or spare... even if only every once and awhile. You enjoy bowling so much, that you'd like to share this experience with a bunch of friends that also enjoy bowling. Or maybe you want to make new friends that will share in this new found enjoyment of yours. So, you head to your local bowling center and you sign up for a league.(For Wow, you hit 80... and that seems to be the only basic requirement. I've seen people in full greens headed in to heroics. At any rate... however you did it, you're now in a guild.)
While your commitment to the bowling league is only 1 night per week, you're pretty hardcore. So, you also spend a lot of extra time bowling on the side, watching bowling on TV, and also researching the latest technologies. You're committed. You may even be bowling 2 nights or more per week. I think my Grandpa, at his peek was bowling about 4 nights per week.In Wow, you generally are raiding for more than one night per week (obviously depends on the guild you're in). But even if you do only raid once per week, you're pretty hardcore, so you research gear, upgrades, min/maxing with your gems, etc. "What other achievements do I need," you may ask yourself. Or how do I get that cool pet that others have. Endless amounts of research and actual "work" are involved to have the gear to truly contribute to your raids.
Now here's one of the things that I don't get in the differences between these two "sports". If you're not going to make it on your bowling night, you generally need to get a sub. Somebody that will fill in for you, take your spot. And/or at least let your teammates know. This is generally taken into account by raiding guilds having more than the minimum number. If you're a 25-man raiding guild, you probably have at least 30 active accounts in your guild. Hey, things happen. Things like, "Gotta go, guys. Cat's in the oven again."
But if you sign up for a guild that raids say Monday through Wednesday, make it a point to be active, be online and ready to raid on those days. If you've previously spoken with your team captain (raid leader) that you can't make it on certain days, that's fine as well. Just live up to your word. Do what you've said you will. That's called integrity. :)
In the actual game, the most coveted thing you can do is bowl a perfect game. (That's a score of 300 for any of you non-bowlers out there.) Or if you've already completed that task, maybe you aim to bowl a perfect series. (That would be 3 perfect games.) These would be the achievements in Wow.
But remember, you also need your teammates to win. Even if you bowl a perfect series, sure this will help your team substantially, but if they're practicing gutter balls, I'm afraid you're not going to be winning any tournaments. (You may be going pro and making some bucks there, but you won't be winning any team leagues with your current teammates.) The same thing goes for Wow. You want to be equally yoked with your teammates. If you're the highest DPS'er in the world, but you're running with a tank that can't hold aggro... you're gonna be running around like a little girl... with her hair on fire... you get the picture. Furthermore, if you're 90% of the DPS in your 10-man raid, and something somehow happens and you die, your raid just lost a heck of a lot of DPS.
The whole point of this post, besides a lot of fun analogies is that while Wow is a game, so is bowling. And if you make a commitment to join a league, or be in an active raiding guild, do your best to live up to those commitments. But on the flip side, if you're not having fun, don't register with that team next season, but don't just stop showing up.
Monday, August 31, 2009
The Bowling Post, Part 1
I come from a long line of bowlers. My dad bowled. His dad bowled. And while I don't have first-hand knowledge, I suspect my great-grandfather also bowled. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that my ancestors were a part of the group that started bowling in Germany back in AD 300.At the height of my teenage/young adult bowling career, I averaged around 160-170. But while my patriarchs were all in bowling leagues, I never joined. It was simply a pastime that I enjoyed.
For me, my bowling league has become a little game called World of Warcraft, and more particularly raiding in World of Warcraft.
Stay w
ith me here while I explain. In order to raid, I had to first level to 80 (well, 60 when I first started, but that's besides the point). Along the way, I ran various instances or ad-hoc groups for group quests. I may have even had a high level toon run me through an instance or two to complete a quest or get a low level blue item. Likewise, I may have started bowling with the bumper lanes and doing the granny roll to get the ball down the alley. (They actually didn't have the bumpers when I was a kid; at least, I never used them at that age.) Sometimes on hard splits, I might have my dad come and pick them up for me.The gray and even green equipment that you get in Wow will
eventually be replaced by shiny, form fitting epics. Those epics are soulbound (or at least account bound), so you don't have to worry about the last guy that wore the shoes. You don't even have to worry that Mr. Bowling Shoe Giver Outer didn't spray the shoes properly. They're yours, and they just help you to do your job better.Every bowling alley also has balls that you can use. They're generally uncomfortable since your fingers don't fit exactly right. At best, you'll get the right weight that's not too uncomfortable for your fingers. Y
ou may even have some comfortable finger holes (seems like they put multiple holes in it sometimes), but the weight is way off. So, eventually, you may even buy your own ball and custom bag. Maybe put your name on it.In Wow, you'll find add-ons to be your friend. They can track auctions, warn you of boss abilities, track your own abilities, etc. etc. In case you've been living under a rock, there's whole web sites dedicated to add-ons. And as many ways as you can purchase a bowling ball or bag, there's at least that many add-ons for Wow.
To be continued...
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Raid Instance Comparisons
A comment by Guest yesterday got me really thinking about the Raid Instances that we've had in World of Warcraft. So, I thought I'd start with a little table and then draw some conclusions from there.
(1) Single Boss Encounter Instance
(2) Recycled Instance
As for my footnotes, I am very well aware that Gruul's Lair had 2 boss encounters and technically EoE has 4. Furthermore, I'm also aware that VoA will soon have 3 bosses. But I believe it is fair to lump them into one category and compare them because they're much shorter instances. If you want to talk about environment, you could even consider Trial of the Crusader as a Single Room Encounter, which meant a heck of a lot less work for the graphic designers. lol.
Further clarifications: I put a space between UBRS and Zul'Gurub since UBRS was still 10-man (down from 15 at a certain point) and Zul'Gurub being a 20-man instance seemed that it needed more coordination and "raid" tactics.
All of that said, Blizzard did a lot in the first few years of Wow. They created 9 classes (8 playable by each faction). They created 2 continents, 24 5-man instances, and 8 raids. Not too shabby. Granted this was all work done from alpha to beta to about 2 years and 2 months until the next expansion came: The Burning Crusade. They then gave us another continent, flying mounts, 16 5-man instances, and 9 raids. Then about a year and 10 months later, Wrath of the Lich King came. So far, we know that they have given us a new continent, 13 5-man instances, and 6 raids with 2 more (Onyxia's Lair and Icecrown Citadel) on the way.
Recycled
Of the 8 raids in Wrath, 2 of them will be completely recycled from Original Wow. Honestly, I'm completely okay with that. I don't think a lot of people (as a percent of the whole) got a chance to run Naxx or, to a lesser extent, Ony before TBC came out. So, it's good that people now get to go back and see these fights. Especially with Blizzard's redirection that everybody should be able to see raids, it just makes sense.
Albeit, I recognize that there's been less development time, but if you factor in that these 2 instances got recycled from before, the true number is really down to about 6 new instances. And 3 of those are Single Boss Encounters (4 if you count Trial of the Crusader).
Now, I'm not saying that any of the Single Encounters are bad instances. I'm simply saying that they seem like they'd take a heck of a lot less work. And yes, Blizzard has given us these hard mode options to them to make them last a little longer... it's not like it takes them the same amount of time as a brand new instance. If you've been around Wow for a bit of time, you know the excitement that comes with heading in to a recently released instance or raid (bugs and all).
Brand New With Quality
On the other hand, I have to really hand it to Blizzard for Ulduar. It's a fun instance. It really shows that Blizzard has learned what people like and don't like. People like to be able to mount in these huge zones, even if it's just in the first area. Being able to teleport around in Ulduar is also great. Graveyard run times are also greatly reduced. There's a repair person in the instance... at the beginning... and you don't even need to defeat a boss before you repair. It also uses the technology that they've been working so hard on (vehicles) and gives you credit for your awesome gear by making your vehicle stronger.
And from what I hear about Icecrown Citadel, it's going to be more of the same quality. I know it was only a joke, but Ghostcrawler joked that it would have 31 bosses. Even if it only has half that, it's still more than Ulduar has, so I really expect the same level of polish and newness to Icecrown.
But... wasn't that level of polish there in the Vanilla Wow? You know... in the first 8 raids that existed? Or will the trend simply continue and mean that in the next expansion, we'll all be farming Sunwell Plateau as soon as we hit 80?
| Vanilla | TBC | Wrath |
|---|---|---|
| UBRS | Karazhan | Naxxramas (2) |
| Gruul's Lair (1) | Obsidian Sanctum (1) | |
| Zul'Gurub | Magtheridon's Lair (1) | Eye of Eternity (1) |
| Onyxia's Lair (1) | Zul'Aman | Vault of Archavon (1) |
| Molten Core | Serpentshrine Cavern | Ulduar |
| Blackwing Lair | TK: The Eye | Trial of the Crusader |
| Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj | Mount Hyjal | Onyxia's Lair (1)(2) |
| Temple of Ahn'Qirj | Black Temple | |
| Naxxramas | Sunwell Plateau | Icecrown Citadel |
(2) Recycled Instance
As for my footnotes, I am very well aware that Gruul's Lair had 2 boss encounters and technically EoE has 4. Furthermore, I'm also aware that VoA will soon have 3 bosses. But I believe it is fair to lump them into one category and compare them because they're much shorter instances. If you want to talk about environment, you could even consider Trial of the Crusader as a Single Room Encounter, which meant a heck of a lot less work for the graphic designers. lol.
Further clarifications: I put a space between UBRS and Zul'Gurub since UBRS was still 10-man (down from 15 at a certain point) and Zul'Gurub being a 20-man instance seemed that it needed more coordination and "raid" tactics.
All of that said, Blizzard did a lot in the first few years of Wow. They created 9 classes (8 playable by each faction). They created 2 continents, 24 5-man instances, and 8 raids. Not too shabby. Granted this was all work done from alpha to beta to about 2 years and 2 months until the next expansion came: The Burning Crusade. They then gave us another continent, flying mounts, 16 5-man instances, and 9 raids. Then about a year and 10 months later, Wrath of the Lich King came. So far, we know that they have given us a new continent, 13 5-man instances, and 6 raids with 2 more (Onyxia's Lair and Icecrown Citadel) on the way.
Recycled
Of the 8 raids in Wrath, 2 of them will be completely recycled from Original Wow. Honestly, I'm completely okay with that. I don't think a lot of people (as a percent of the whole) got a chance to run Naxx or, to a lesser extent, Ony before TBC came out. So, it's good that people now get to go back and see these fights. Especially with Blizzard's redirection that everybody should be able to see raids, it just makes sense.
Albeit, I recognize that there's been less development time, but if you factor in that these 2 instances got recycled from before, the true number is really down to about 6 new instances. And 3 of those are Single Boss Encounters (4 if you count Trial of the Crusader).
Now, I'm not saying that any of the Single Encounters are bad instances. I'm simply saying that they seem like they'd take a heck of a lot less work. And yes, Blizzard has given us these hard mode options to them to make them last a little longer... it's not like it takes them the same amount of time as a brand new instance. If you've been around Wow for a bit of time, you know the excitement that comes with heading in to a recently released instance or raid (bugs and all).
Brand New With Quality
On the other hand, I have to really hand it to Blizzard for Ulduar. It's a fun instance. It really shows that Blizzard has learned what people like and don't like. People like to be able to mount in these huge zones, even if it's just in the first area. Being able to teleport around in Ulduar is also great. Graveyard run times are also greatly reduced. There's a repair person in the instance... at the beginning... and you don't even need to defeat a boss before you repair. It also uses the technology that they've been working so hard on (vehicles) and gives you credit for your awesome gear by making your vehicle stronger.
And from what I hear about Icecrown Citadel, it's going to be more of the same quality. I know it was only a joke, but Ghostcrawler joked that it would have 31 bosses. Even if it only has half that, it's still more than Ulduar has, so I really expect the same level of polish and newness to Icecrown.
But... wasn't that level of polish there in the Vanilla Wow? You know... in the first 8 raids that existed? Or will the trend simply continue and mean that in the next expansion, we'll all be farming Sunwell Plateau as soon as we hit 80?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Definitive Definition: Casual and Hardcore
Darraxus got me thinking about the age-old debate of Hardcore vs. Casual. I think most of us have probably bent the meaning of those terms in one way or another so that it fits our current needs. Heck! Look at the name of my blog. I didn't consider Primogeniture "Hardcore", but for a long time I don't think I could really call us "Casual" either. So, we were really just a shade of gray, but probably on the Hardcore side. (We may want to consider a scale of 1 to 10 here, and at one point, I was probably about an 8.)
So here it is. I've spent countlessyears hours minutes researching, contemplating and calculating so that I can give the true definition of a Casual and Hardcore Wow player.
Hardcore
I think everybody goes through phases. Even the guys from [insert World First Guild Name here] usually take a break once everybody has all the loot they want out a dungeon. My wife, who I would consider pretty casual atm, has a level 80 toon and has even killed 3 bosses in Ulduar.
The point is, that you're almost always going to find somebody with more (or less) /played time than you. You're almost always going to find somebody with better (or worse) gear. The Casual / Hardcore debate isn't black and white. It's gray. Gray as the ocean is wide. The important thing is that you have fun while wading through this grayness. If you get black every once and awhile, good for you. Just make sure that you balance it out with some white. Maybe throw some leftover snowballs at the rogue that's about to sap a target. Trust me... it's great fun.
So here it is. I've spent countless
Hardcore
- If you consistently clear the highest level content, you may be hardcore.
- If you have an arena rating above 2000, you may be hardcore.
- If you have the Title of Seeker or Loremaster, you may be hardcore.
- If you've never sold a single thing on the AH, you may be casual.
- If you've never obtained a mount, you may be casual.
- If you have an active account, but log in only once a week... maybe... then you may be casual.
I think everybody goes through phases. Even the guys from [insert World First Guild Name here] usually take a break once everybody has all the loot they want out a dungeon. My wife, who I would consider pretty casual atm, has a level 80 toon and has even killed 3 bosses in Ulduar.
The point is, that you're almost always going to find somebody with more (or less) /played time than you. You're almost always going to find somebody with better (or worse) gear. The Casual / Hardcore debate isn't black and white. It's gray. Gray as the ocean is wide. The important thing is that you have fun while wading through this grayness. If you get black every once and awhile, good for you. Just make sure that you balance it out with some white. Maybe throw some leftover snowballs at the rogue that's about to sap a target. Trust me... it's great fun.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Browser Usage
Today's post is almost completely non-Wow related. I was reading about Google's new operating system and decided to check out Chrome. It's pretty schnazzy, but Firefox is still my #1 choice. One of the big bonuses is that Chrome seems to load everything really fast. But Ad Block-up Plus (an add-in for Firefox) means that I never have to see all the advertisements... also means that they don't actually load. So, I'll be sticking with Firefox for that reason alone. (Doesn't look like there's a way to block those yet for Chrome. I could be wrong.)
But it seems that I'm not alone in this. According to a small sampling of data from Analytics from my Blog, I.E. isn't the clear cut winner as the media would make you believe. Then again, I doubt the average WoW player (or at least the ones that would be searching for anything they would find on my blog) is anything like the average Internet user. I'm guessing that we're just a slightly be more technical. And with just under 50% of us using Firefox lately, I'm sure that's the case.
But it seems that I'm not alone in this. According to a small sampling of data from Analytics from my Blog, I.E. isn't the clear cut winner as the media would make you believe. Then again, I doubt the average WoW player (or at least the ones that would be searching for anything they would find on my blog) is anything like the average Internet user. I'm guessing that we're just a slightly be more technical. And with just under 50% of us using Firefox lately, I'm sure that's the case.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Misleading Marketing: Car Dealership Edition
I just needed to vent, and this is the best place I know to do it. For those that know me, I'm generally a pretty well-informed car guy. I may not know the exact specifications of your '65 Chevy, but I'm generally up to speed on current products. I usually view the car dealerships and sales people as tools that get in the way of what I want. I distrust them at every corner. Heck, I don't even trust their mechanics if I take my car in for warranty work. I generally equate them to the level of politicians. And given that I think California is almost going to financially fall into the ocean because of the current politicians we have here, my opinion of them (and the car dealerships for other reasons) are about the same.
Last week I got a phone call from my local Mazda dealership here in Temecula: Hines Mazda. They offered me an oil change and car wash for $9.99. "Great!" I think, but the catch is they're only open Monday through Friday. Because of my commute, there's generally no way I can make it here during their business hours, so I decided to pass. I was actually due for an oil change, so it would have been perfect. BUT... my older son had "Donuts for Dads" today at Kindergarten, so I took the day off, and I went ahead and scheduled my oil change as well. (I'm actually writing this from the dealership.)
Not only does the oil change include their 50-point (or whatever) check (which is a bunch of marketing crap for "we glanced under the hood"), but it also includes a free car wash. (With the rain clouds looming, that really isn't much of a draw for me today, but whatever.) Admitedly, that's probably worth about $35 -> $20 for the oil change (what I normally pay) and $15 for the car wash. But the advertised price was $9.99.
So, I bring my car in, get the paperwork, and the estimate is $15. "Umm... excuse me?" I say, "Why is this estimate of $15?"
"Oh, that's the standard tax and disposal fee," he replies.
(So as to not crit with a wall of text, I'll omit the conversation I had with the check-in guy, and the Service Manager, Art.)
I'm a little peeved off at the 50% increase in price. The coupons I've seen are a set amount with usually a disclaimer with more for V-6 engines. But they've included hazarous waste fees. Well, Art, the Service Manager here at Hines didn't think this was resonable. His response was that with sales tax going up and hazardous waste fees, this was perfectly normal. I have no problem paying taxes, but this is essentially akin to a hidden fee based on what the marketing person, Debbie, told me. And how does a 1% increase in sales tax even factor in to a discussion about a 50% increase???
What is the whole point of a $9.99 (or in reality $15) oil change and car wash? They're losing money on it either way. The point is to get people in to the dealership mechanic so that they can see the dealership is a nice, clean, fast place to get your car work done, and the people can be trusted too. Well, actions speak much louder than words, Hines Motors.
So, whole point of this tiraid is this: don't take your car to the dealership for anything unless it's guaranteed 100% free (e.g. Waranty stuff). Even then, see if you can take it to your local mechanic, and they'll get reimbursed for it. (I believe some waranty work can be done this way.) Oh, and if you're actually buying a new car... go through Cars Direct or something so the dealership gets less as well.
Be warned, I'm in no mood to defend this. So if you post something that's contrary to my point (e.g. all the coupons I've seen don't include hazardous waste), I reserve the right to delete the comment out of spite.
Last week I got a phone call from my local Mazda dealership here in Temecula: Hines Mazda. They offered me an oil change and car wash for $9.99. "Great!" I think, but the catch is they're only open Monday through Friday. Because of my commute, there's generally no way I can make it here during their business hours, so I decided to pass. I was actually due for an oil change, so it would have been perfect. BUT... my older son had "Donuts for Dads" today at Kindergarten, so I took the day off, and I went ahead and scheduled my oil change as well. (I'm actually writing this from the dealership.)
Not only does the oil change include their 50-point (or whatever) check (which is a bunch of marketing crap for "we glanced under the hood"), but it also includes a free car wash. (With the rain clouds looming, that really isn't much of a draw for me today, but whatever.) Admitedly, that's probably worth about $35 -> $20 for the oil change (what I normally pay) and $15 for the car wash. But the advertised price was $9.99.
So, I bring my car in, get the paperwork, and the estimate is $15. "Umm... excuse me?" I say, "Why is this estimate of $15?"
"Oh, that's the standard tax and disposal fee," he replies.
(So as to not crit with a wall of text, I'll omit the conversation I had with the check-in guy, and the Service Manager, Art.)
I'm a little peeved off at the 50% increase in price. The coupons I've seen are a set amount with usually a disclaimer with more for V-6 engines. But they've included hazarous waste fees. Well, Art, the Service Manager here at Hines didn't think this was resonable. His response was that with sales tax going up and hazardous waste fees, this was perfectly normal. I have no problem paying taxes, but this is essentially akin to a hidden fee based on what the marketing person, Debbie, told me. And how does a 1% increase in sales tax even factor in to a discussion about a 50% increase???
What is the whole point of a $9.99 (or in reality $15) oil change and car wash? They're losing money on it either way. The point is to get people in to the dealership mechanic so that they can see the dealership is a nice, clean, fast place to get your car work done, and the people can be trusted too. Well, actions speak much louder than words, Hines Motors.
So, whole point of this tiraid is this: don't take your car to the dealership for anything unless it's guaranteed 100% free (e.g. Waranty stuff). Even then, see if you can take it to your local mechanic, and they'll get reimbursed for it. (I believe some waranty work can be done this way.) Oh, and if you're actually buying a new car... go through Cars Direct or something so the dealership gets less as well.
Be warned, I'm in no mood to defend this. So if you post something that's contrary to my point (e.g. all the coupons I've seen don't include hazardous waste), I reserve the right to delete the comment out of spite.
Friday, June 5, 2009
10-Man vs. 25-Man
In thinking about this topic, I really had to do some introspection about how I am as a gamer. Am I the type of gamer that wants to see every level, so I simply put the game on easy mode to be able to burn through a game in a couple nights? Or am I more of the type that wants all the bragging rights because I've beaten a game on ultra-extreme tough mode?
The answer is: It varies with every game.
A lot of games, I will simply play through on easy. If I enjoy the game, I'll bump up the difficulty so that there's more of a challenge. If it gets too insanely difficult though, I'm out. Some games will unlock additional content or levels if you play the game on these more challenging modes though.
Take the Guitar Heroes series, for example. (Hope I remember the skill levels here.) Easy is good for people to start learning. But I enjoy music, and I've played guitar for a few years, so in short time, that level got quite boring. Medium is a bit more hectic, but with practice, most people can probably do this level. Hard is where the boys and men are separated. You have to put in some practice to be able to move your fingers around now. And Expert? Well, that's just insane. Maybe that's what separates the hardcore from the casual. lol. When I was playing Guitar Heroes, I generally played Medium/Hard. (Once Rock Band came out, I haven't purchased any more of the GH series.) I really saw no point in getting a finger cramp from attempting Expert.
Rock Band, on the other hand, didn't make the difficulty quite so rough, in my opinion. With practice, I think most people can do Hard, and Expert is simply knowing the "real" song. I generally play Rock Band on Hard/Expert. The difference is attainability.
Well, I played both those games and skill levels for my own personal satisfaction. I don't play Expert on songs to show off amongst my friends. No, I do it because it makes the game more fun when I have to struggle a bit. But there's certain solos that make me want to simply restart the system... oh, and I fail almost instantly on those.
Now... what the heck does that have to do with 10-man and 25-mans? First off... they're not equal. It's more difficult to do the 25-man runs, so you get better loot. I would expect that. But I would also expect your options to be the same (which they're not). So, if you get a trinket in 25-man that increases your spell power by 111, then you should be able to get the same trinket in 10-man that increases your spell power by say... 98. But that's just not the case.
Naxx loot has 4 trinkets for 10-man and 8 for 25-man. Furthermore, not all classes can get 2 legitimate trinkets from them. Like what would I do with the second ranged DPS trinket from Naxx as a mage?
Anyway... the whole point is that I've starting asking myself: do I care? And if I do, why?
I've made fun of a buddy of mine because he's still in mostly blues. I've suggested a few upgrades, even crafted ones, but the cost simply doesn't justify the upgrade. And he does pretty good DPS. He obviously plays his class well, but he just doesn't devote that much time to raiding to be able to get full epics.
And the whole point of the game is that I want to have fun. I want to hang out with my friends. And maybe every once in awhile, I get a gear upgrade. But mainly, I want to see the content, or... I want to finish the game. I think because of TBC and original wow, I still have this leftover mentality that I have to be in 25-man raids. But really... I just don't care that much. Furthermore, I'd be perfectly happy if I was simply running 10-mans with my 9 closest friends, and hopefully somebody (doesn't even have to be me) gets an upgrade.
So don't let the mob mentality make you do things you don't want to. It is a game, so make sure you're happy while you're playing it. Do what makes you happy.
p.s. If running 25-man content makes you happy, then by all means... go for it. This was in no way meant to bash or discredit anybody else's idea of fun.
The answer is: It varies with every game.
A lot of games, I will simply play through on easy. If I enjoy the game, I'll bump up the difficulty so that there's more of a challenge. If it gets too insanely difficult though, I'm out. Some games will unlock additional content or levels if you play the game on these more challenging modes though.
Take the Guitar Heroes series, for example. (Hope I remember the skill levels here.) Easy is good for people to start learning. But I enjoy music, and I've played guitar for a few years, so in short time, that level got quite boring. Medium is a bit more hectic, but with practice, most people can probably do this level. Hard is where the boys and men are separated. You have to put in some practice to be able to move your fingers around now. And Expert? Well, that's just insane. Maybe that's what separates the hardcore from the casual. lol. When I was playing Guitar Heroes, I generally played Medium/Hard. (Once Rock Band came out, I haven't purchased any more of the GH series.) I really saw no point in getting a finger cramp from attempting Expert.
Rock Band, on the other hand, didn't make the difficulty quite so rough, in my opinion. With practice, I think most people can do Hard, and Expert is simply knowing the "real" song. I generally play Rock Band on Hard/Expert. The difference is attainability.
Well, I played both those games and skill levels for my own personal satisfaction. I don't play Expert on songs to show off amongst my friends. No, I do it because it makes the game more fun when I have to struggle a bit. But there's certain solos that make me want to simply restart the system... oh, and I fail almost instantly on those.
Now... what the heck does that have to do with 10-man and 25-mans? First off... they're not equal. It's more difficult to do the 25-man runs, so you get better loot. I would expect that. But I would also expect your options to be the same (which they're not). So, if you get a trinket in 25-man that increases your spell power by 111, then you should be able to get the same trinket in 10-man that increases your spell power by say... 98. But that's just not the case.
Naxx loot has 4 trinkets for 10-man and 8 for 25-man. Furthermore, not all classes can get 2 legitimate trinkets from them. Like what would I do with the second ranged DPS trinket from Naxx as a mage?
Anyway... the whole point is that I've starting asking myself: do I care? And if I do, why?
I've made fun of a buddy of mine because he's still in mostly blues. I've suggested a few upgrades, even crafted ones, but the cost simply doesn't justify the upgrade. And he does pretty good DPS. He obviously plays his class well, but he just doesn't devote that much time to raiding to be able to get full epics.
And the whole point of the game is that I want to have fun. I want to hang out with my friends. And maybe every once in awhile, I get a gear upgrade. But mainly, I want to see the content, or... I want to finish the game. I think because of TBC and original wow, I still have this leftover mentality that I have to be in 25-man raids. But really... I just don't care that much. Furthermore, I'd be perfectly happy if I was simply running 10-mans with my 9 closest friends, and hopefully somebody (doesn't even have to be me) gets an upgrade.
So don't let the mob mentality make you do things you don't want to. It is a game, so make sure you're happy while you're playing it. Do what makes you happy.
p.s. If running 25-man content makes you happy, then by all means... go for it. This was in no way meant to bash or discredit anybody else's idea of fun.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Movie Review: Forever Strong
Okay... absolutely nothing to do with Wow here. I guess that's what happens when you take the last 2 nights off of Wow. lol. At any rate...
I don't go out to the movies very often. With 4 young kids, we just don't make it out very often. But Netflix is our friend. :)
So, we randomly glance through movies that are coming out to see if there's anything that might be interesting. I'm generally a big fan of the sports movies that are based on real life events. Probably why we requested Forever Strong. Even though it's about a sport that I know mostly nothing about, Rugby.
If you like movies such as Remember the Titans, Hoosiers, The Rookie, you'll most likely enjoy this movie as well. Yes, it's about Rugby. The official web site is RugbyMovie.com. But you don't need to know anything about Rugby to enjoy the movie.
It stars Sean Faris as the main character. It also has Sean Astin (aka Samwise Gamgee, Rudy, and Mikey Walsh). One of the outtakes was a group of people in a crowd watching the game that included Sean Astin, and they started chanting "Rudy".
So for those that need to know more and are too lazy to go check out one of the links, here's the synopsis from the official site:
I don't go out to the movies very often. With 4 young kids, we just don't make it out very often. But Netflix is our friend. :)
So, we randomly glance through movies that are coming out to see if there's anything that might be interesting. I'm generally a big fan of the sports movies that are based on real life events. Probably why we requested Forever Strong. Even though it's about a sport that I know mostly nothing about, Rugby.
If you like movies such as Remember the Titans, Hoosiers, The Rookie, you'll most likely enjoy this movie as well. Yes, it's about Rugby. The official web site is RugbyMovie.com. But you don't need to know anything about Rugby to enjoy the movie.
It stars Sean Faris as the main character. It also has Sean Astin (aka Samwise Gamgee, Rudy, and Mikey Walsh). One of the outtakes was a group of people in a crowd watching the game that included Sean Astin, and they started chanting "Rudy".
So for those that need to know more and are too lazy to go check out one of the links, here's the synopsis from the official site:
Rick Penning (Sean Faris, Never Back Down) lives life just like he plays rugby; fast, hard-hitting and intense. When life on the edge lands him in jail, prison ward Marcus Tate (Sean Astin, The Lord of the Rings) offers him a chance to get back in the game by playing for longtime rival teaml, Highland Rugby. Reluctantly Rick joins the team where he must adopt the grueling training schedule and uinque code of conduct that highland's legendary coach (Gary Cole, Office Space) demands. Egos clash and bitter competitors struggle to find the meaning of "team."p.s. That was verbatim from the site. 10 points awarded for pointing out each of the 3 grammar/spelling errors. Is it really that hard to proof-read something that goes out on a professional site about a product you're trying to sell?
As on-field battles rage, hearts are challenged and loyalties are tried. Rick Penning decide if between the life he lived and a life that stands before him. With a national championship on the line, he will learn that the greatest victories are born in the heart.
Monday, January 12, 2009
What Would You Do for Guildies?
In World of Warcraft (and most MMO's from what I've seen), there exists RL friends (real life) and online friends. Sure there are those online friends that can cross over to become RL friends, and those RL friends that can (finally) get online. And with some of these cross-overs, it's possible to have a friend be both. But I'm talking about the destinction between the two today; and there is a definite line of demarcation between RL friends and online friends.
(While it's not always true, I'm going to make a simplification and call the online friends "Guildies". I am perfectly aware that most people probably have friends that are outside of your guild. Furthermore, there's probably guildies that aren't your friends; in fact, those people probably drive you crazy to the point that you'd like to throw a RL fireball crit to their head, but I digressed.)
For the sake of definition, guildies are those that you met online. By the true sense of the word, you somehow got persuaded to join this motly guild and inherited some of the people/friends that come along with it. As a general rule, you've probably never seen these people, except for maybe their facebook or myspace pages. These people don't have any way to contact you outside of the game, except for maybe an official guild forums. You may know that these people have children, but only because they tell the guild to watch their language because of "little ears". Conversations occur regularly, but are limited to in-game whispers, guild chat, or Ventrillo/Team Speak. You probably spend time with these people, because you want to run an instance, and there's usually loot in it for you. It's even possible that you've done something nice for these guildies, such as running their alts through Dead Mines.
RL friends are people outside of online games. They're the people you know from school, work, your neighborhood, etc. You generally have no problem talking to these people on the phone, hanging out with them, etc. If they ask for help moving something, you're there. They might need a small loan, and that's not a problem either. Maybe you bought them lunch just for the heck of it. You may exchange Christmas or Birthday gifts. I'm sure you get them a wedding present as well. They're friends in every true sense of the word.
So, assuming you have guildies or online friends. How far do you stray into RL friend area with them? Have you met up with them? Have you helped any of them out financially? (That would include buying them lunch.) Would you be willing to recommend one of them for a job position? Do you have any of their phone numbers? E-mail addresses? Home addresses? Basically, what would you do for your guildies?
Personally, a lot of that demarcation line has blurred for me. The first guild I was in was created by me, my best friend, and his brother. Everyone that became part of that guild was known by somebody in the guild in RL. The connection was kind of long at times (my best friend's brother's wife's parents were in the guild (whom I knew in RL as well)), but it was a connection nonetheless.
When Primogeniture was started, it was best friend's cousin's friend's friend that first suggested the idea. We both live in Southern California, but never got around to meeting up, but I would have had no hang ups about meeting him in person. I've had current guildies over to my house for raid nights. Heck, if I didn't live so far away from the now, they'd probably still be coming over on Wednesday nights. I've helped a couple of them out financially. (They were small amounts, please no begging.)
So, what are your thoughts on how you treat online friends? How far would you go? lol.
(While it's not always true, I'm going to make a simplification and call the online friends "Guildies". I am perfectly aware that most people probably have friends that are outside of your guild. Furthermore, there's probably guildies that aren't your friends; in fact, those people probably drive you crazy to the point that you'd like to throw a RL fireball crit to their head, but I digressed.)
For the sake of definition, guildies are those that you met online. By the true sense of the word, you somehow got persuaded to join this motly guild and inherited some of the people/friends that come along with it. As a general rule, you've probably never seen these people, except for maybe their facebook or myspace pages. These people don't have any way to contact you outside of the game, except for maybe an official guild forums. You may know that these people have children, but only because they tell the guild to watch their language because of "little ears". Conversations occur regularly, but are limited to in-game whispers, guild chat, or Ventrillo/Team Speak. You probably spend time with these people, because you want to run an instance, and there's usually loot in it for you. It's even possible that you've done something nice for these guildies, such as running their alts through Dead Mines.
RL friends are people outside of online games. They're the people you know from school, work, your neighborhood, etc. You generally have no problem talking to these people on the phone, hanging out with them, etc. If they ask for help moving something, you're there. They might need a small loan, and that's not a problem either. Maybe you bought them lunch just for the heck of it. You may exchange Christmas or Birthday gifts. I'm sure you get them a wedding present as well. They're friends in every true sense of the word.
So, assuming you have guildies or online friends. How far do you stray into RL friend area with them? Have you met up with them? Have you helped any of them out financially? (That would include buying them lunch.) Would you be willing to recommend one of them for a job position? Do you have any of their phone numbers? E-mail addresses? Home addresses? Basically, what would you do for your guildies?
Personally, a lot of that demarcation line has blurred for me. The first guild I was in was created by me, my best friend, and his brother. Everyone that became part of that guild was known by somebody in the guild in RL. The connection was kind of long at times (my best friend's brother's wife's parents were in the guild (whom I knew in RL as well)), but it was a connection nonetheless.
When Primogeniture was started, it was best friend's cousin's friend's friend that first suggested the idea. We both live in Southern California, but never got around to meeting up, but I would have had no hang ups about meeting him in person. I've had current guildies over to my house for raid nights. Heck, if I didn't live so far away from the now, they'd probably still be coming over on Wednesday nights. I've helped a couple of them out financially. (They were small amounts, please no begging.)
So, what are your thoughts on how you treat online friends? How far would you go? lol.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Disgust for Sony because of Rock Band 2 for PS2
Nothing Wow related here. But I must vent. Excuse the wall of text, but I find the details important.
I've been a big fan of the Guitar Heroes games and then the Rock Band game. While Guitar Heroes was fun, some of the songs became too challenging and while I could still play them, it became more of a chore then rocking out to your favorite songs. Plus, some of the harder songs were just too heavy rock for me. Plus, you could only play 2 players for Guitar Heroes.
Last year (well, 2007) when I was given Rock Band for Christmas, it easily became my favorite game. It's the perfect double date especially since on Easy mode, most of the songs (even the super hard ones) were fairly easy to do. I have the PS2, and I have had it for quite some time now. I kept trying to convince the Mrs that we should buy a PS3 for the downloadable content (aka new songs), but even if I had her permission, I couldn't justify spending $450 or so for basically just one game.
This past Christmas, a buddy of mine bought me Rock Band 2. There was a whole fiasco with Amazon, but I won't go into that now. But I should have gotten it before Christmas, but I got it a few days after. (No big deal, right?) So, the first night, I played it and it froze up on a few songs. A quick reset, and no problem. I played it for a few nights, and then it stopped working altogether. I kept getting the "Disc Error" message from my PS2.
Exchanging the disc to Game Stop did nothing. Same errors. And all of my other discs (granted all old games) loaded fine.
So, I called the number on my PS2 for Sony. The nice (at first) lady first informed me that they were having a lot of problems with RB2 because of the Dual-Layer. She later went back and said that they were having "some" problems with the Dual-Layer. After getting all my personal information, she informed me that if I shipped back my PS2 (at my own cost (about $10)) and gave them $45, they'd send me a PS2 that would work with RB2 (refurbished, of course).
In my quick calculations, that's $55 that I'd have to wait at least a week for, and at this point, I couldn't even guarantee that it would work with RB2 except that they say it would. --OR-- for $59, I could go to Gamestop and get a refurbished PS2 that i could test out the game on before I left the store.
So, to make my point of view clear to the nice lady at Sony, I explained that I didn't really think it was fair that I was going to have to spend $55 to make my system work for a game that they authorized Harmonix to create for the PS2 regardless of model I have. She got very snippy and start accusing me of putting words into her mouth. I asked for her manager, but after 2 minutes on hold, I figured it wasn't going to make a difference anyway, and I hung up.
Off to the Internet to see if I can find answers. The majority of people said they took their PS2's apart, cleaned the lens, and then it worked fine. Being very familiar with computers and taking them apart, I figured I could do this. Having never taken apart a PS2, I was very careful. Did exactly what they said. Put it back together. And now my PS2 won't even power on at all.
So, my options seem to be either buy the refurbished PS2 from Gamestop, or bite the bullet and buy the refurbished PS3 from the same place. (The new ones aren't backwards compatible with the PS2.) I really only have myself to blame for breaking the PS2, but it infuriates me that Sony won't take action to fix their original problem that authorized games won't play on many systems. (They've consolidated all the PS2 issues into one post here, but yesterday I saw one that was 4 pages long.) They claim it's a misaligned laser, but there's way too many people that cleaned it to fix the problem.
Maybe I can raise the money by buying BuyMeAPS3.com. lol.
I've been a big fan of the Guitar Heroes games and then the Rock Band game. While Guitar Heroes was fun, some of the songs became too challenging and while I could still play them, it became more of a chore then rocking out to your favorite songs. Plus, some of the harder songs were just too heavy rock for me. Plus, you could only play 2 players for Guitar Heroes.
Last year (well, 2007) when I was given Rock Band for Christmas, it easily became my favorite game. It's the perfect double date especially since on Easy mode, most of the songs (even the super hard ones) were fairly easy to do. I have the PS2, and I have had it for quite some time now. I kept trying to convince the Mrs that we should buy a PS3 for the downloadable content (aka new songs), but even if I had her permission, I couldn't justify spending $450 or so for basically just one game.
This past Christmas, a buddy of mine bought me Rock Band 2. There was a whole fiasco with Amazon, but I won't go into that now. But I should have gotten it before Christmas, but I got it a few days after. (No big deal, right?) So, the first night, I played it and it froze up on a few songs. A quick reset, and no problem. I played it for a few nights, and then it stopped working altogether. I kept getting the "Disc Error" message from my PS2.
Exchanging the disc to Game Stop did nothing. Same errors. And all of my other discs (granted all old games) loaded fine.
So, I called the number on my PS2 for Sony. The nice (at first) lady first informed me that they were having a lot of problems with RB2 because of the Dual-Layer. She later went back and said that they were having "some" problems with the Dual-Layer. After getting all my personal information, she informed me that if I shipped back my PS2 (at my own cost (about $10)) and gave them $45, they'd send me a PS2 that would work with RB2 (refurbished, of course).
In my quick calculations, that's $55 that I'd have to wait at least a week for, and at this point, I couldn't even guarantee that it would work with RB2 except that they say it would. --OR-- for $59, I could go to Gamestop and get a refurbished PS2 that i could test out the game on before I left the store.
So, to make my point of view clear to the nice lady at Sony, I explained that I didn't really think it was fair that I was going to have to spend $55 to make my system work for a game that they authorized Harmonix to create for the PS2 regardless of model I have. She got very snippy and start accusing me of putting words into her mouth. I asked for her manager, but after 2 minutes on hold, I figured it wasn't going to make a difference anyway, and I hung up.
Off to the Internet to see if I can find answers. The majority of people said they took their PS2's apart, cleaned the lens, and then it worked fine. Being very familiar with computers and taking them apart, I figured I could do this. Having never taken apart a PS2, I was very careful. Did exactly what they said. Put it back together. And now my PS2 won't even power on at all.
So, my options seem to be either buy the refurbished PS2 from Gamestop, or bite the bullet and buy the refurbished PS3 from the same place. (The new ones aren't backwards compatible with the PS2.) I really only have myself to blame for breaking the PS2, but it infuriates me that Sony won't take action to fix their original problem that authorized games won't play on many systems. (They've consolidated all the PS2 issues into one post here, but yesterday I saw one that was 4 pages long.) They claim it's a misaligned laser, but there's way too many people that cleaned it to fix the problem.
Maybe I can raise the money by buying BuyMeAPS3.com. lol.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Expansion Cheapness
Is it just me, or have people seemed to become really cheap in the expansion? I understand that a good portion of money is being used up to train new spells, new professions, and to buy new mounts, but come on people... even crappy quests of "go talk to the person next to me" seem to reward 5g at a minimum.
One of the many reasons I started noticing this and I bring it up now is due to mage portals.
Let me stop here so I don't lose a bunch of you cheapskates. Yes, the reagent cost is 20 silver. And yes, I only need to press 1 button to cast it. But whether you agree with it or not, the cost of a portal is NOT 20 silver.
While the cost is subjective, it should be more for "higher" cities. We can first learn to open a portal to cities at level 40. (most old world cities) Let's say that's 1g. (Assuming you're at max level, that's being pretty cheap for a high level toon and you probably should give more, but I'll start there for sake of discussion.) We learn portals to Darnassus and Thundering Bluff at 50. There should probably be a higher cost, but with demand so low for those ghost towns, I doubt anyone charges more. At 65, we can open a portal to Shattrath. The time we've spent levelin, plus the opportunity cost easily justify a nice, round 5g for a port to Shat. Just before launch, I was having people offer me 10g all the time.
And finally, our last portal comes at 74. It's to a city that you cannot get to without help unless you're level 74. It's not like the Dark Portal that you can run through at 68 to get to Shat. No, it's 4 levels after you've entered Northrend that you can get to Dalaran alone. Now with the help of a mage, they can send you there. (There's also the ghetto port I talked about before, but you get that messy deserter debuff.)
Now, I'm not setting a price for your port to Dalaran. If Shat was 5, then it makes sense that, especially if you're below 74, you give at least 10g, maybe more. I don't know. But the cheapness comes in when I see people offering 2g for a mage to open a portal to Dalaran for them. When I openely express that that's too little, I basically start a zone-wide arguement on the price of reagents and why it should only be a small stipends. It's not like I'm asking for your first-born or anything. Geez, people. Do a couple quests and pay up for services to others.
On a total side note: I logged in with my Shaman (who hadn't even seen Northrend on Live) last night, and I thought there was an error because he had 365 JC'ing. I swore he wasn't that high. But after a big of research of what I was skiling up on, I realized he was. Dang there's a lot of things to learn as a JC'er.
One of the many reasons I started noticing this and I bring it up now is due to mage portals.
Let me stop here so I don't lose a bunch of you cheapskates. Yes, the reagent cost is 20 silver. And yes, I only need to press 1 button to cast it. But whether you agree with it or not, the cost of a portal is NOT 20 silver.
While the cost is subjective, it should be more for "higher" cities. We can first learn to open a portal to cities at level 40. (most old world cities) Let's say that's 1g. (Assuming you're at max level, that's being pretty cheap for a high level toon and you probably should give more, but I'll start there for sake of discussion.) We learn portals to Darnassus and Thundering Bluff at 50. There should probably be a higher cost, but with demand so low for those ghost towns, I doubt anyone charges more. At 65, we can open a portal to Shattrath. The time we've spent levelin, plus the opportunity cost easily justify a nice, round 5g for a port to Shat. Just before launch, I was having people offer me 10g all the time.
And finally, our last portal comes at 74. It's to a city that you cannot get to without help unless you're level 74. It's not like the Dark Portal that you can run through at 68 to get to Shat. No, it's 4 levels after you've entered Northrend that you can get to Dalaran alone. Now with the help of a mage, they can send you there. (There's also the ghetto port I talked about before, but you get that messy deserter debuff.)
Now, I'm not setting a price for your port to Dalaran. If Shat was 5, then it makes sense that, especially if you're below 74, you give at least 10g, maybe more. I don't know. But the cheapness comes in when I see people offering 2g for a mage to open a portal to Dalaran for them. When I openely express that that's too little, I basically start a zone-wide arguement on the price of reagents and why it should only be a small stipends. It's not like I'm asking for your first-born or anything. Geez, people. Do a couple quests and pay up for services to others.
On a total side note: I logged in with my Shaman (who hadn't even seen Northrend on Live) last night, and I thought there was an error because he had 365 JC'ing. I swore he wasn't that high. But after a big of research of what I was skiling up on, I realized he was. Dang there's a lot of things to learn as a JC'er.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Wotlk Content Finishers
So, I understand that there are a number of guilds that have finished all of the Wotlk content. Good for them. The ex-Nihlium or whatever did it in like 3 days. Good for them. There's at least 2 guilds on our server that have finished everything as well. Good job guys.
But then there's the rest of us. Probably the 99.9% of the Wow community that hasn't done that yet. There's maybe the 90% of the people that haven't hit 80 yet. Now granted, there's some people that just don't want to raid, so even my estimations are most likely skewed.
So, I was thinking about Ghostcrawler's post that basically said that the difficulty of Wotlk is good. I was thinking about all the games that I've rented from Blockbuster, back in the day. Within 1 week, I could generally beat most of the games I rented. Sure, I burned a little more midnight oil than normal sometimes, but I'd generally finish things. Maybe not EVERYTHING, but most things.
Now there's this new era of games called MMO's. Games that people schedule vacations around launches so they can level up as soon as possible. Games that have a huge age range of players. Also there's varying degrees of game time availability. Some people play for a couple hours per week, and some play for 23 hours per day. (Hey, you have to sleep a little, right?)
So, this time around, they didn't make it so you have to spend months raiding in hopes to get one piece of gear like it was in Vanilla Wow. They scaled things down quite a bit so that more people get to see the content. That also means that these hardcore people get to level multiple alts... perfect reputations. Work at getting ALL achievements. All in all, for my $40 and $15 per month... I still think we're getting our money's worth.
But then there's the rest of us. Probably the 99.9% of the Wow community that hasn't done that yet. There's maybe the 90% of the people that haven't hit 80 yet. Now granted, there's some people that just don't want to raid, so even my estimations are most likely skewed.
So, I was thinking about Ghostcrawler's post that basically said that the difficulty of Wotlk is good. I was thinking about all the games that I've rented from Blockbuster, back in the day. Within 1 week, I could generally beat most of the games I rented. Sure, I burned a little more midnight oil than normal sometimes, but I'd generally finish things. Maybe not EVERYTHING, but most things.
Now there's this new era of games called MMO's. Games that people schedule vacations around launches so they can level up as soon as possible. Games that have a huge age range of players. Also there's varying degrees of game time availability. Some people play for a couple hours per week, and some play for 23 hours per day. (Hey, you have to sleep a little, right?)
So, this time around, they didn't make it so you have to spend months raiding in hopes to get one piece of gear like it was in Vanilla Wow. They scaled things down quite a bit so that more people get to see the content. That also means that these hardcore people get to level multiple alts... perfect reputations. Work at getting ALL achievements. All in all, for my $40 and $15 per month... I still think we're getting our money's worth.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Background Downloader Failing on My Computer
I think I've mentioned this before, but I can't find the post. For some reason, my computers always have a problem with the Background Downloader. And it fools me because every time the downloader kicks in, it appears that my computer is downloading everything just fine. Then I go and install the new patch on patch day, and I have to download the whole thing.
True to form, it happened again last night. I thought everything was downloading correctly via the background downloader. All of the settings were set to download while playing. I was certainly on the game long enough for it to download everything. And then when I went to go install the patch last night right after I got home, it starts the downloader to download 1.2gb at 0%. /sigh
On the brighter side though, since it was patch day, I hear that it was a dozy. Lots of restarts, mods not working, etc. So, I guess it was a good thing that I sat and downloaded the patch for the evening. And then my two machines weren't seeing each other on the network. One is xp and the other is vista. I had them playing nicely before, but they didn't want to play last night, so I set the other one to download the patch for a second time while I'm at work. Yes, wasteful, I know, but I don't have a thumb drive large enough, and that computer doesn't have a DVD burner. So, that's my cheapest option.
Wow... that was kind of a boring post. I'll make a second post to make up for it. :)
True to form, it happened again last night. I thought everything was downloading correctly via the background downloader. All of the settings were set to download while playing. I was certainly on the game long enough for it to download everything. And then when I went to go install the patch last night right after I got home, it starts the downloader to download 1.2gb at 0%. /sigh
On the brighter side though, since it was patch day, I hear that it was a dozy. Lots of restarts, mods not working, etc. So, I guess it was a good thing that I sat and downloaded the patch for the evening. And then my two machines weren't seeing each other on the network. One is xp and the other is vista. I had them playing nicely before, but they didn't want to play last night, so I set the other one to download the patch for a second time while I'm at work. Yes, wasteful, I know, but I don't have a thumb drive large enough, and that computer doesn't have a DVD burner. So, that's my cheapest option.
Wow... that was kind of a boring post. I'll make a second post to make up for it. :)
Monday, October 6, 2008
Crash Course in Mobile Blogging: Blogger
So, my last message was completely from my phone. I learned a couple of things.
There is a help article here that explains how to use Blogger Mobile. Sounds kind of simple, huh? Well, for somebody that didn't grow up texting, it was a bit more of a challenge. First, I had to figure out how to include something other than numbers in the text message To: box. (There's probably another way, but I just added an e-mail address on a contact, and then I could add the address.) But I didn't figure that out at first. So, at the bottom of that page, they say you can send the keyword HELP to BLOGGER (256447), to which I did. And got this response:
- When taking pictures for BlizzCon this weekend, I can't turn the camera/phone on it's side or else I get funny-looking pictures.
- Blogger's "Blogger Mobile" kind of sucks.
There is a help article here that explains how to use Blogger Mobile. Sounds kind of simple, huh? Well, for somebody that didn't grow up texting, it was a bit more of a challenge. First, I had to figure out how to include something other than numbers in the text message To: box. (There's probably another way, but I just added an e-mail address on a contact, and then I could add the address.) But I didn't figure that out at first. So, at the bottom of that page, they say you can send the keyword HELP to BLOGGER (256447), to which I did. And got this response:
Welcome to Blogger Mobile! Text a post to BLOGGER (256447) then claim your blog at go.blogger.com. To cancel mobile bloggging, text STOP. Other charges may apply.Great! I tried that, hoping to get a claim token that I can enter here. Nothing. So, I work on trying to figure out the go@blogger.com bit on my phone, to which I did. And so I got this response:
You have not yet registered. Send the word REGISTER in an MMS or email to go@blogger.com. By sending REGISTER you are agreeing to the Blogger TOS (www.blogger.com/tos).I think the link is humorous because you get an Error 404, Page Not Found. Oh, and I didn't mention that these were the successful messages. Meanwhile, I was getting multiple bounce backs from Postgateway@blogger.com. The final message I get is this:
By registering your device, you have agreed to the Blogger TOS (www.blogger.com/tos).(Again with the bad address.) So, great! I'm registered! But where's my token? I started searching around on the Internet and found this page. The third and final post is what I ended up doing. Basically... blog by e-mail. Which is something I started doing almost a year ago when I couldn't get to my blog directly anyway. So... while I am grateful for all that Blogger does. Fix your links and text messaging capabilities. Or at least fix the page that explains how to do it.
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