He's making a list

and checking it twice;
Gonna find out
Who's naughty and nice.

I'm still enjoying being able to log on the game and find a group within a few minutes.

What I really appreciate is if someone turns out to be a jerk I can put them on ignore and never group with them, at least on that character I guess, again.

It makes me feel like players' actions have consequences. A feeling that is sometimes hard to get in WoW.

LFG's effect on raiding

Tobold's post on whether raiding is obsolete got me to thinking about my own experiences.

One of my reasons for raiding is as far as PvE is concerned it is the only way to have a ready made group for doing things.

I quit the game on my very first main because at 60 there weren't many raid groups and there was nothing to do at cap if you didn't raid (leveling an alt was a foreign concept to me at the time).

Before the LFG tool, I could log on - and playing tank/healer I didn't have much trouble finding a group - it often took time.

But by raiding with a guild, I knew when I logged on the group was made for me. All I had to do was show up.

The same with PvP battlegrounds, I could just join the queue and a group would be put together for me. Not a good group, but a group nonetheless.

Now with the LFG tool, groups are put together for me and everyone else for PvE. I can play an alt get it reasonably geared, play another alt and do the same.

I can stay out of the raiding scene altogether, because I don't need it to fulfill my multi-player need.

I'm not saying I'm going to stop raiding. I'm just having a lot of fun using the LFG tool on my alt at the moment.

LFG: Tank

Like anyone else playing WoW for PvE, I've been busy instancing. The LFG tool makes it easy to find groups and as someone who hasn't had too much trouble finding them in general I can imagine this is a whole new ball game for those who did.

I have to share a funny comment someone made when asked "How many bad tanks have you had? (Lfg tool)"

They answered:
In lower level instances, it's about 50/50. Most people trying to tank seem to be tank specced at least, but some have horrible gear and/or don't understand basic principles of tanking.


Okay....a tank in a lower level instance, in horrible gear and doesn't really know how to tank?

Quelle surprise.

I heard someone say tanks should group as dps, in essence spending twice as long getting gear - because you need dps gear first then hope and pray the tank will let you roll alongside him for loot.

Of course if you spend time dpsing, you're not really getting any experience actually tanking.

Groups want experienced, knowledgeable, well-geared tanks. But how do you think they get that way?

Good buzz for LFG

I haven't heard so much good buzz around the blogosphere and forums in a while.

The LFG changes appear to be a success. Nice job Blizz!

My personal experience with the new 5 man heroics has been good, I've only done the new 3. But I've done them on a character that outgears it.

That said, I can't find fault with anything that allows you to get a random group going in less than 30 minutes.

Everyone is participating in part because of the new stuff, new loot and Perky Pug.

I wonder will it continue to be so active as things die down?

I'm not able to do too many during the week, but I plan on testing the waters more over the weekend with my sub 80, much less geared horde character.

I haven't had much luck finding lots of people wanting to do normal Northrend instances, so I'm hoping LFG is hoppin' for non-heroics too!

Patchy patch

Patch 3.3 is glitchy but that was to be expected. I honestly do not get upset when MMOs like WoW for having shaky expansions and mini-expansions.

I got the familiar Additional Instances cannot be launched, I got the random disconnect, and punt back to Dalaran.

Yous takes your chances playing on patch day.

Patch 3.3 : BoA cross faction

My horde paladin is almost 80 now, so it won't help that character any.

But I have another alt I want to level up just for the profession and I'm happy to hear with the patch I'll be able to send over all of the BoA heirloom items I have to it. Actually I think I only currently have 3 that would be useful - shoulders and some weapons, looks like there are 12 items total!

I doubt I'm going to bother trying to get all 12, but a stronger character will be easier to level and the xp increase would be sweet! Not to mention the hit on some of the items, you normally don't get hit on low level stuff.

Ah achievements, how thou doth vex me

I found out with only 2 days to spare that an achievement, Proof of Demise is being changed to a feat of strength due to the new LFG cross-realm system.

I have three left so if Patch 3.3 is released Tuesday there is no possible way for me to finish it up.

I've had more than a year to do them, but always felt I'd get around to them just like the nine other ones.

It bugs me enough to blog about it, but I'm going to let it go because if it really meant that much to me I'd go ahead and try to finish it on the chance the patch isn't released. And I really don't feel like it.

I hate to feel in some way punished for simply not choosing to do some things in game. It bugs me to see Hand of Adal titles and Amani War bear mounts, because if I had just played more than I felt comfortable I probably could have gotten them. But I'm not being punished, I'm really just not being rewarded. It feels kinda like when a buff to one class is a nerf to the rest.

In the end, I continue to try to work on playing the game because I *want* to not because I *need* to.

So if Tuesday comes and Proof of Demise is moved? I can at least consider it as an achievement I don't have to bother with.

Hitting a sweet spot

I think I may have hit a sweet spot with WoW.

I have an alliance main that I raid on twice a week max and an horde alt I'm leveling that I have no plans of raiding on.

As a raider in a less-than progressed guild, raiding gets very dull because we've reached a place where I don't think we're going to down any of the remaining bosses. People are starting to bring alts and that's a sign we've done all we're going to do.

I could chase after achievements but I'm at the point the achievements I could get take grinding. They don't give me a bite of the carrot on the stick that makes them fun.

But an alt does. Every time I play my alt I feel progression. I found out I could purchase a blue tanking libram with just 20 or so minutes of playtime and did just that last night.

Playing my alt is filling in for the lack of progression my main is missing. I'm hitting a sweet spot and it feels good!