WTFlux

There have been recent murmurings in the WoW-blogosphere lately about the casual nature of World of Warcraft, and how the hardcore players hate this trend, etc. I’m soo, so sick of this crap. Let’s go back to marketing 101. Very simple very obvious things here, so all you epic raiderz can understand. Blizzard built a game, a MMORPG in order to make money. Their goal is first and foremost to make money, second to make it a high quality game. The game, World of Warcraft has 10 million subscribers. The high - end bleeding edge (have EVERYTHING on farm) content guilds probably don’t even garner 5 percent of those subscribers. Let’s actually say somehow they represented 10% (1 million subscribers). How do you build a game so that the maximum amount of people will subscribe, and make the most possible money? You’ve got to listen to the 90% of subscribers when designing a game, and design and build content that they can perhaps someday attain. Blizzard actually learned how to do both with the expansion pack - The Burning Crusade. No one balances the raid content and the casual content with a kinder learning curve in the entire industry. Thus, we have 10 million subscribers, and a great game. This isn’t subjective, it’s fact. 10 million people don’t subscribe $15 dollars a month to a poorly made and maintained game. Having said that, producing raid content is important to the high end raiders and in a trickle down effect - important to everyone.

Recently a guild called Risen decided to voice their displeasure (commonly referred to as QQ - or crying) about how World of Warcraft was so casual, and all the n00bs can get great gear without any work. (my paraphrase) A recent WoWInsider article also hit on this proclamation, and I’ve mulled it over for a week or so and I want to sound off on this because I can and this attitude annoys me.

The QQ post from Risen concluded the thoughts:

…What happened to the competition? What happened to the encounters that took time to learn? In BT PTR [Black Temple Public Test Realm] I said this, and people told me it would be different on live. It sure didn’t seem that way to me. Nihilum praised the Souls encounter and Illidan both…

This has always confused me. If you don’t want to fly through content, and you want to take your time trying to solve raid encounters, why the hell do you spend hours and hours and hours on the PTR before it even goes live? Why do you look at successful world first videos, share strategies, etc.? Now I have no idea if they did that, but I’ve got a hard time believing they didn’t have any input from anyone or anything. Do you want to go up against hard content? DON’T LIVE IN THE PTR. What’s the fun in that? Experience the content when it is released and play like everyone else. You’re already better than 99% of the population - so naturally you’ll get content down before everyone else.

The competition argument is equally perplexing. Hell, entire websites were conceived because of the very competition you say isn’t there! All we heard about in the first few months of BC was the competition between guilds and all the world firsts flying around like crazy. What more competition do you want? Competition drives quicker results, chewing through content. This is normal, this is constant. I really don’t even understand 1 argument presented by Risen. They even contradicted themselves pointing out that arguably one of the best guilds on the planet - Nihilum actually praised Blizzard for the Black temple encounters and raid content. So I have the best guild saying Blizzard did things right - and a guild that worked really hard pre-BC to knock out Naxx content and got pissed when level 64 quest gear was as good as their epics crying that all their work will be for nothing if they can’t dominate n00bs like the good old days. LOL, aww poor babies. To me it seems like a bunch of spoiled brats are QQing because they beat the internetz and now don’t have anything to do.

Basically the WoWInsider article took a relatively casual friendly stance on the post by risen:

WoWInsider says: “The big complaint that so many people had was that they were a little put off that they could replace their most uber gear with level 61 greens off of Hellboars.”

LOL. I wasn’t put off. No one I played with was put off. We all thought it was kinda hilarious that in our green level 63 quest gear - we looked like pimp clowns. Somehow, as a dumb casual n00b I was able to figure out before BC came out, if level 61 greens are better than epics, why should I spend time raiding right now? You see before The Burning Crusade, there were 2 different types of level 60 players. Raiding players and players that tried to raid, and played casually. The difference was hilarious. A raiding level 60 would completely annihilate a casual 60. Blizzard tried to narrow this gap by giving casual players heroic instances, badges, arena teams, and easier rep grinds. There is still the raid crawl with tier X geared raiders. Now casual players have a chance to close the gap if they try hard and get organized with the time they have to play. Now the epic raiderz don’t have such a big lead on casuals, and apparently they are pissed. It’s not enough that they get to see places and encounters in the game that I’ll never experience, or have weapons or gear I’ll never get to see or equip - but they want to utterly dominate everyone else in all levels of the game. I think it’s hilarious.

They’ve since then wrote a post to talk about all the noise they made with thier comments. They go on to say:

…Yes, there are enough raiders who have seen Illidan to make it worth Blizzard’s time to continue to create content for them. No, nowhere was it said that 5mans, 10mans, and even solo content should be excluded. It is all being put out in this game slower than it is in AC1, and AC1 has been out for what, 9-10 years, and has less than 1% of the player-base of WoW…

I see the argument they are trying to make, and I think it’s made with raid-blinders. They are looking at things through their epic raiding glasses, not through the 9.5 million subscriber glasses. No, there is no way in hell there are enough raiders who have seen Illidan to make it worth Blizzards time to continue to make RAID content for them at the pace they want it. My point is backed up by results and fact. Blizzard knows it isn’t cost effective to do this, they haven’t done it, and never will. AC1 might be able to get away with it BECAUSE they have less than 1% of the player-base of WoW. There is a REASON they have less than 1% of the player base of WoW, and I’ll leave that up you to to extrapolate.

Then they throw out the Charles Barkley - “I’m not a role model” card:

…The post was -not- made to get attention from Blizzard. The post was not made to try to get anything changed…

Sooo, one of the top 20 guilds on the planet throws out a post telling the world why they quit WoW, and how horrible and boring WoW is, and damn those casual n00bs for getting free epics, etc. - and they DIDN’T expect any backlash? ARE YOU SERIOUS? I’m sorry, that’s ignorant. I bet they know now. It doesn’t matter if they care about the WoW community - they are a part of it.

Actually I wasn’t mad at them, hell I could care less about Risen - this is something that has been brewing in the community since The Burning Crusade came out and raiding guilds weren’t the only people covered in purple anymore. It could have been Risen, or Death and Taxes - whatever. In a private moment, I would think most raiding guilds grumble about this issue. No, raiding guilds don’t deserve more input on content, no Blizzard isn’t going to cater to you, no- no one cares if you quit. It’s not because I’m being mean, it’s because you’ll be back - and you’ll pay your money just like everyone else. Don’t be fooled - Blizzard is a company, they want to make the most money possible. That is priority number one. It seems kinda harsh and cold - but that’s the way it is.

Link Dump:
http://risen-guild.com/
http://www.wowinsider.com
http://nihilum.mousesports.com/en/news/

HAHHAHAAHAH.

Score one for me. I thought I would have some fun with my 5 year old. The one who likes to burn my hearthstones and leave me out in the middle of no-where when I log in.

I’ll double cross the double crosser! I took my “bird lady” to Darnassus (she’s kinda just chilling there anyway receiving Runecloth and turning it in for faction rep at the moment) and HID her in the city. Next I think I’ll strand her on some floating piece of wreckage in Netherstorm.

What are some places I could strand a level 70 with a flying mount that would surprise my 5 year old? Calling all cartographers!!!

From the test realm 2.4 patch notes -

Multi-Shot: This ability will no longer strike any secondary targets which are under the effect of crowd-control spells that break on taking damage. i.e. Polymorph, Sap, etc.

WOW! This is HUGE. How many times have you or some huntard in your group nuked the sheep with a multishot and caused a pull to be much harder than it already was? Mage’s and Rogues will like us again!

I can’t help but to think that Blizzard is trying to help raise the reputation of the poor huntard, and his bumbling ways. As a newly minted 64 hunter, I applaud these changes- but a part of me feels weird. It’s always been a sense of pride for me never to multi-shot break a crowd controlled mob, and now I don’t get to display that skill. Hunter’s can still break crowd control (as well as everyone else) with volley, and direct shots. This will definitely help with those tough 6 man pulls where you need as much dps as possible in a hurry.

I logged on to my hunter, found that the hearthstone was burned and for some unknown(known?) reason I was in the Exodar. How did he even GET THERE? I logged out in Honor Hold! HE’S FIVE!!!

So thwarted by my son, I turned to the horde. My Rogue was the logical choice, so naturally I chose to play my Mage. Back to SM I go, this time to the armory. After no less than 4 groups joined, filled, and disbanded (don’t ask) I finally got a solid group and off we went. I was 35 when we started, and halfway through the instance a 37 ret? paladin was the top of the charts. I looked closer and saw that I was SECOND! I love my fire spec, but I’m sure that I’m doing it wrong and could get it a bit more refined.

But MAN, is it fun. Big crits, tons of burst damage, great crowd control. Downside: I have to drink nearly every pull. My +fire damage gear makes me a glass cannon. If I don’t kill you fast, I’m pretty much a squishy snack. I’ll have to tweak this a bit to see if I can get a bit more utility out of some more balance - some intellect, stamina mixed in.

I really enjoy playing my mage. This is my fourth character into the Scarlet Monastery, and I think for this instance, Mage is my favorite.

Any thoughts on my Fire Mage build?

I am by no means a hardcore WoW player. I do not know the best place to farm for everything. I like to try and maximize the time I get to play WoW, and hopefully this will help someone out. I hear that grinding for primals sucks, and while I agree to some extent - it’s not hard and can be done alone. These are locations and mobs I can kill quickly and access easily. They may not be the best locations, but it’s what I’ve found that works for me. Feel free to comment.

Mote of water:  Skettis Surger about a 50% drop rate on motes, sometimes you get 2.

Mote of fire: Enraged Fire Spirit alternate to other mote of fire mobs- about 30% drop rate or Searing Elemental sometimes crowded.

Mote of shadow: Collapsing Voidwalker - easy to kill.

Mote of life: Fungal Giant and Withered Giant easy to kill and if you are a flower picker- you can pick/skin these guys.

Mote of Mana: Phase Hunter / Mana Wraith / Mana Seeker - in that order of the amount of mobs to farm in Netherstorm(they all have similar drop rates +/- 30%) and Netherwing Rays in Shadowmoon valley.

There ya go.  Go nuts, get yer motes.

At work yesterday, I received a phone call.  My wife was calling because my son was playing World of Warcraft.  He’s 5 and he loves to just travel around Azeroth basically doing nothing but riding gryphons, mounts, etc.  He calls Griffendora (level 70 shadow priest) the Bird lady, because she is my only toon with a flying mount.  He LOVES flying around.

My wife said she heard him screaming hysterically about “red” guys getting him.  Then he sighed very loudly… “She died”.  Apparently he flew from Shattrath to the Skettis area and was introduced to Giant Kilari.  Pretty funny.  When he gets one of my toons killed, he usually just logs out and logs into another toon.  I can only imagine what people think watching this play out every day, let alone my guildmates.

I got home from work, sat down for dinner, and my little guy said:

“DAD!  Did you buy one of those crabby guys for your guy?”

I had gotten a ravager as a pet at lunch, and apparently he had logged on to my hunter.  He’s got a ravager on his level 12 space palladin hunter, and he calls them “crabby guys”. Priceless.

I really don’t know if it was mystifying for anyone, but I thought I’d throw out a guide in case you weren’t doing these. WHAT? YOU DON’T HAVE YOUR COOKING MAXED OUT? /gkick.

Seriously- get your cooking maxed, it’s insanely easy- and it can give you great buffs for certain recipes. It’s twice as good when you can level fishing and cooking at the same time - cooking the fish you catch, etc. You don’t spend any money doing it this way and get both professions maxed. BUT, fishing is boring. So if you have to choose, do cooking.

You must have at least cooking 275 for these quests, and the quest giver is a goblin named “The Rokk“. He is found near the Netherdragons in the lower city. You will also need a flying mount or very generous friends. There are 4 different cooking daily quests he will give you. You can keep one in your quest log and turn it in the next day- but you cannot pick another cooking quest up that same day. You get 7g59s per turn in and your choice of a crate of meat or a barrel of fish. These give you raw meat/fish you can cook and use- and there is a chance you will get 1 of 6 cooking recipes when you open your crate/barrel.

Reward Recipes:
Recipe: Spicy hot Talbuk
Recipe: Broiled Bloodfin
Recipe: Skullfish Soup
Recipe: Kibler’s bits
Recipe: Stormchops
Recipe: Delicious Chocolate Cake

4 quests:
Manalicious
Revenge is Tasty
Soup for the Soul
Super Hot Stew

Recipes you will need:
Recipe: Warp Burger
Recipe: Roasted Clefthoof
Recipe: Mok’Nathal Shortribs
Recipe: Crunchy Serpent

Manalicious is very simple. Head to Netherstorm-stormspire then south to one of the Eco-Dome’s. The berries are picked from Mana Berry Bushes which are pretty much everywhere. You need to pick up 15 of them.

Revenge is Tasty is a bit harder. You will need Giant Kaliri Wing and Warp Burger. The giant Kaliri Wing drops off of the Monstrous Kaliri from the Skettis, the Warp Burgers are made from warped flesh which drop from Warp chasers and stalkers - also found in the skettis area. Basically do this quest with your skettis daily quests.

You will need: Recipe: Warp Burger to cook up the meat. The recipe can be found from Supply Officer Mills in the Allergian Stronghold in Terrokar. Once you have 4 warp burgers, and 1 wingy, right click on the pot the Rokk gave you and cook you up some food.

Soup for the Soul is relatively easy. You need to get 4 Clefthoof meat, cook them into Roasted Clefthoof, then use the cooking pot in the Ancestral Grounds in Nagrand (west edge of Nagrand- northwest of Oshu’gun - 26,60).

The Clefthooves are all over south, southeast Nagrand that drop the meat- and Recipe: Roasted Clefthoof is found in Telaar, Nagrand at 56,73 from a vendor called Uriku.

Super Hot Stew is probably the “hardest” although it’s not that bad. You need 2 Mok’Nathal Shortribs and 1 Crunchy Serpent to use the cooking pot. So you need Raptor Ribs x2 and Serpent Flesh.

The raptors and serpents that drop this meat can be found surrounding Death’s door in Blade’s Edge. The drop rates are pretty decent. (at least they have been for me)

To cook these you will need:
Recipe: Mok’Nathal Shortribs grab this from Sassa Weldwell from Toshley’s Station in Blades edge (61,69)
Recipe: Crunchy Serpent - also sold by Sassa.

Once you have everything cooked, you will need to head to Ogri’la. Find an Abyssal Flamebringer (around 30,82) in southern Ogri’la- and murderize him. In the dead flamebringers corpse is where you need to right click on the cooking pot to cook up yer food.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this fun and exhaustingly detailed guide to the cooking daily quests. Enjoy!

p.s. a helpful hint: Grind out a stack of 20 of all the meat you are going to need so you can just either pick berries, fly to the Ancestral Grounds in Nagrand or fly to Bladge’s Edge and kill an Abyssal to complete these quests!

You’ll need:
Giant Kaliri Wing
warped flesh
Clefthoof meat
Raptor Ribs
Serpent Flesh

Zhunter is a great mod that will save you some action button real-estate.  Do you have your favorite aspects mapped to a button or a macro?  Have all your different traps set everywhere on your UI?  Have all your pet management buttons all over the place?  Zhunter will help you get organized and free up a ton of space.  Zhunter is basically like a hunter button dock that sits on the left side of your screen, below your party interface.  There are 4 buttons stacked vertically - ZAspect, ZTrap, ZTrack, and ZPet.  Left click chooses the visible button, right click expands the options and lets you choose which action you want.

Use /zhunter to access options.
Here is a list of the other tools that come with Zhunter:

ZAutoShot (Casting bar for auto shot) - Use /zautoshot to lock/unlock the bar for movement.
ZAutoStrip (Button to strip your valuable gear.) -Right-click to auto strip when you exit combat (feign).
ZHunterTranq (Cooldown bars for other Hunter’s Tranq Shot.) Shows misses and includes options to announce in chat.
ZAntiDaze (Removes Cheetah and Pack when you or your party gets dazed.)
ZFeignHealth (Shows the actual health of friendly hunters while feigned.)
ZPetAttack (Key Binding to have pet attack or return if already attacking.)
ZPetObey (Key Binding to have pet stay or follo)

So if you want to free up some space on your UI, Zhunter will help you out.  I use it, love it and wholeheartedly recommend it.

Zhunter - http://wowui.incgamers.com/?p=mod&m=2208

Going to be gone this weekend. No postifications till Monday. Please don’t wreck the house or get in trouble.

kkthxbai

I love to play my warrior, Shemoos.  My Mage - Ichorgoo is a blast to play.  Wogger the Rogue is fun and deadly.  Carterpants does hilarious amounts of damage, and Griffendora is a few upgrades away from 25-man content.

Call of Duty 4 is probably the best shooter I’ve ever played.  Battlefield 2 AND 2142 are both amazingly fun games.  Portal revolutionized puzzle games, Team Fortress 2 is hilarious and brilliant.  Company of Hero’s is slick and addicting.

These are the things that I face when I sit down and think about playing a game or two.  Focusing on 1 character is becoming harder and harder to do, but I’m not having any less fun.  If anything, MORE fun.

Now is a decent time to be a gamer….